SCHERZO
by Strawberrysoul
Summary: Trouble is starting to rise up in the Soul Society again as two Arrancar's are out, causing Shinigami to hollowfy because of their voice! The Kurosaki's are on the case until they enter Soul Society to see many Shinigami already hollowfied/hollowfying! They head out to try and deal with the problem, only to find out that they're heading into the trap/Terrible with Summaries
1. Chapter 1

**DISCLAIMER: BLEACH BELONGS TO KUBO TITE**

****So this is the first chapter of a new fanfiction I'm working on, obviously -states that at the end too-. I'm really excited about this one because I...Just am, haha! Anyways, I want to apologize for some OOCness that's probably there, and for the chapter being a bit choppy.

There's OC's too just so you know, so I don't want to hear any whining or complaining about that just because you didn't know that there would be OC's, because now you know~ xD Oh and there's pairings here too, like my IchiMel (Oc x Canon), but it's not like it's a romance story so there isn't much of that, but it just explains why Ichigo acts a certain way to my OC is all, trololo, that's why I apologize for OOCness. And there's also going to be RenRuki in this too. **ALSO I don't want ANY SHIPPING WARS/COMPLAINTS on my story.**

That's all the ranting I have to do for now, oh and I appreciate reviews if you want to give one, just no flames. Alright now let's get on with the story~

* * *

**SCHERZO CHAPTER 1**

"Wh-What? What are you saying…?" Her quiet voice asked in almost a whisper as she found it hard to find her voice and the right words to say. She and her brother had somewhat finished a fight, it was more like the enemy screwed with her brother's head, causing him to go a little bit crazy, then the enemy retreated as he felt the other shinigami coming to the scene. The brunette didn't know why it took them so long to get there, but when they did, they told her what they were really there for, which confused her greatly. Her orange haired brother was unconscious from going a little out of it, and was on his knees, arms draping on top of his sister's as his head hung down lightly while she held him closely.

A familiar face stepped forward; he was the noblest man that the girl knew as far as noble people went. Noble and prideful. His grey eyes were closed like they usually were, the normal calm expression remaining on his face. "Kurosaki Melek…Orders are orders." The ebony haired man remarked as he now opened the grey eyes as he looked down at the pale brunette nonchalantly. He was always the one to follow orders and do what was right, especially if it had to do with his pride which he had a lot of.

Whipping her head over to her best friend, Kuchiki Rukia, the new vice-captain of squad 13, she furrowed her eyebrows and looked at the short ebony haired woman. "R-Rukia?!" Melek asked in confusion a bit of obvious hurt in her voice. Rukia was a vice-captain now, which meant that she knew about the orders that were beginning to take place before them. Rukia didn't say anything as she only moved her violet big eyes to the side, letting out a quiet sigh, deciding it was best to just keep her mouth shut, not wanting to hurt her best friend more than she already was. "Renji you too?! You can't be serious you guys!" The substitute shinigami exclaimed, anger escaping into her voice as she glared at the couple.

Renji only sighed and rubbed the back of his head sighing as he moved his brown eyes down to the brunette, knowing she would only get more angry and protective. "I'm sorry but I…I do agree with the orders this time…He practically went crazy…" The redhead remarked as he lowered his hand by his side again, shaking his head in disapproval to Melek's behaviour to the situation.

This is when Byakuya took another step forward and continued on. "We cannot risk him hollowfying and losing all control. He does and there could be many casualties in which we are not going to tolerate. Kurosaki Ichigo will be taken to prison." The squad six captain explained as he now had a much colder look lying on the much younger brunette before him. "It's Head Captain Yamamoto's orders." The man stated with a nod and quiet sigh, annoyed with Melek's reaction to this entirely.

Melek protectively held the back of her orange spiky haired brother's head and wrapped her other arm around the older boy's waist, glaring at all the captains there, along with Rukia and Renji who were her good friend's. In this situation, she hadn't really cared who she was glaring at; she refused to let anybody touch her brother, especially when he would need her after the experience he had just gone through. The enemy, the Arrancar, did something to Ichigo that made him like that, it wasn't Ichigo's fault.

"I won't let you take him away!" Melek yelled in anger her voice having a bit of a warning tone as the captains began to walk in on her. She knew these captain's would obey the orders no matter what. But that didn't mean she would just sit there and allow her brother to get taken from her. She couldn't carry him, and she couldn't run in this state, but if she could make it seem like she would hurt them, maybe then they would've just left her alone.

"Melek please…Don't make it harder than it already is…" Rukia called to her quietly from off to the side with her boyfriend, not wanting to take place in this. It was bad enough for her that she was there, but she wouldn't actually take place in the taking of the brunette's brother. It would be hard for the both of them to face such a thing.

"No Rukia!" The pale girl snapped again, only getting more protective and angry as she glared over at her short haired friend. "I won't let them take him!" Melek continued on, an almost desperate look in her face as she said this, not wanting to lose her brother in anyway whatsoever, after all, it was her worst nightmare. Before anything else could be said, and before any movements were made, the Head Captain himself was behind the brunette, his hand on his cane, his eyes closed. Melek's eyes widened as she looked over her shoulder at the old man, her eyebrows slightly etched.

The old man opened his eyes a little bit, a cold look in them as he stared down coldly to the young female before him. "I am here for Kurosaki Ichigo." The squad 1 captain stated his voice gruff and serious along with his expression. His disposition was quite frightening too as he was much stronger than Melek and he could easily defeat her if she tried to fight.

"No! NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!"

* * *

A seemingly beautiful voice began to ring out throughout the town of Karakura. It was echoing, but it never faltered, not one note of the song was off key. Not even the wind cancelled out the voice that was singing. It belonged to a female. She had short ebony shoulder length hair, pale green eyes and lightly tanned skin. She was wearing a white jacket the reached down half way past her ribcage, and she was wearing a white short skirt that was held up with a black waist belt, and she had a hole in her torso. Her brother was beside her, he had a smirk on his features as he crossed his arms. He had red short yet wavy and tangled hair. He was wearing a white t-shirt and white hakama that too was held up with a black waist belt. His hole wasn't seen as it was covered up by his t-shirt. His purple eyes had amusement in them as he knew what the effects of this song would do to two certain people in the area. He was unaffected by his sister's voice because he and her were already Hollow's. Well Arrancar to be precise, so it hadn't any affect on the two.

The redhead yawned as he put his hand over his mouth, looking over at his singing sister. "Nee-san, I think that's enough, the wind caught your voice so it should still trail out for a little while. When it stops it stops, we don't need them to get infected right away you know…" He said in an almost irritated tone, he liked the ebony haired girl's voice and all, but that didn't mean that he wanted to listen to it for hours. It wasn't as though it had been hours however, only around 30 minutes, but he was still getting bored of not quite doing anything aside from standing there listening and waiting.

The girl stopped as she crossed her arms looking up at her brother, sighing as she pouted a little bit. "Okay okay…But if it didn't affect them it's all on you…" The sister accused with a chibi expression on her face as she tilted her head to the side in all innocence. She then leaned over and pulled on the green eyed boy's cheek. "Is that alright with you, Arata-nii-san~?"

The Arrancar known as Arata scowled and glared, flailing his arms causing the other Arrancar to let go of his cheek, still smiling and laughing a little bit. "Whatever! I don't much care! Just…Ugh! You're so annoying! This is supposed to be serious! Kazumi!" Arata barked to her in utter annoyance, not liking his older sister's antics on him. It wasn't anything he wasn't used to or anything of the sort; he just didn't like her antics.

Kazumi only grinned some more as she looked away from her brother. "Oh whatever, let's just go already, we can't stay here for long or they'll find us. We'll know if they go effected by it or not later, we'll check at night when everyone is sleeping and no one is around~" The Arrancar girl explained as she began to walk, looking over her shoulder at the boy. "Let's go."

* * *

Melek rubbed the back of her head and groaned as she closed her eyes, furrowing her eyebrows in faint pain as an odd sound began to make its way through the air, not stopping much at all. It wasn't something she heard before and she was confused as to where it was coming from. There hadn't been any Hollows in the town for awhile, and she felt no reiatsu that was different. Soon a hand placed on her shoulder, which caused the brunette to quickly turn around only to see it was her brother.

"Melek? What's wrong?" Ichigo asked raising an eyebrow a little bit confused as to why Melek stopped moving. Then Ichigo moaned and scowled as he removed his hand from Melek's shoulder, and placed it on his head. It was an odd feeling, like someone had just stabbed him multiply times over and over, or someone slammed a bat on his head once ore twice. It wasn't anything he's ever heard before, an odd sound, like a song. Ichigo thought nothing of it as he shook his head, moaning quietly he removed his hand from his head and sighed. "W-Well! Let's go to class, everyone's waiting!" The teen remarked as he took his sister's hand, beginning to fast walk to their classroom, not bothering to ask what that sound was, not bothering to even tell his sister about the odd sensation he felt. He just left it as it was, trying to ignore it as the song only continued on quietly through the sky, as though the wind had been carrying it.

Once the two had arrived at the class, they took their separate seats as class began. Melek didn't pay much attention to the lesson that the teacher was giving, she leaned over and lightly tapped Inoue Orihime's shoulder with her hand to get the older girl's attention. The long orange haired girl smiled as she looked over at one of the substitute shinigami, her grey eyes bright and expression happy as ever. "What's up, Kurosaki-chan?" She whispered quietly, not wanting to the teacher to catch them talking.

Melek only shrugged as she rested her chin on the palm of her hand, her elbow resting on the corner of her desk. "Did you hear that…Odd noise a few minutes ago? That sort of…Song like thing?" The brunette asked raising her eyebrow, her dark brown eyes having curiosity in them, not sure if Orihime did or not. If Orihime did hear it, she might've just thought it was the wind, but Melek wanted to make sure.

"Song? No…The wind was picking up quite good though huh?" The grey eyed busty girl smiled and tilted her head to the side. "It must've been your imagination, Kurosaki-chan~!" Orihime chimed as she leaned back in her chair, beginning to listen to the teacher's session. Melek sighed as she rested her arms on her desk, an unimpressed look on her face as she was a little confused.

_I guess no one else heard it…I know Ichigo did just by the way he reacted after asking me what was wrong…I don't think Ishida would've heard it, I'm sure Ichigo already asked while I was talking to Inoue, so I'll ask him later…It was such an odd sound though…I wonder what it could have-_ The teenager's thoughts were cut off as the teacher tapped the chalkboard.

"Kurosaki-san, I expect you to be listening when I'm talking! Not spacing out!" She remarked with a nod, Melek only sighed and rolled her eyes. However she did gave a faint nod in return, not bothering to say anything else after that. The teacher gave yet another nod, and began to talk on about the subject again.

* * *

In the sideways forest Inner World that seemed to be ready to have a thunderstorm, Shirosaki Kuro, Kurosaki Melek's Inner Hollow, was sitting by the dark murky lake in the south end of the world. A rather new expression on her face. It wasn't sadistic or upset; it was a happy grin on her face, not a smirk, but simply a grin. She moaned lightly with her distorted voice as she she stretched her arms, lightly moving herself on her back, looking up at the dark grey clouds in the sky. Some pure snow white strands flowing as a warm wind blew.

"Ahhh~ that was such a beautiful song, I want…More of it…" The sleeveless Hollow said to herself with satisfaction in her voice along with a little bit of a sadistic tone, sitting up again as she crossed her arms over her chest. "I wonder if Shiro-nii-san heard it…" She mumbled to herself, and then she stood up and looked over to the north side of the Inner World. Jitsugetsu was there, standing with her back to Kuro her light brown hair moving with the soft wind, not paying much mind to the song she had heard. Kuro walked over to her superior and looked up at the pale eyed woman, her grin fading into a more of a smirk. Her gold and black eyes still having satisfaction in them as she was playing the tune over in her head. "Hey Jitsu-senpai, is it alright if I go see Shiro? I want to know if he too heard that lovely song! It was faint from here, but even so I want more of it! I want more…"

Jitsugetsu looked down at the Hollow girl with a confused expression on her face, not quite sure of why Kuro would want more of the song. She personally didn't see nor understand what was so great about it. Then the brunette shook her head and gave the faintest of smiles. "Go on, go see." The older woman said simply, allowing her underling to go to her brother's Inner World.

* * *

As she began to fall into the sideways skyscraper Inner World she looked around for her equally pale brother with her gold and black eyes. The thought of him hearing the song kept at her thoughts as she was quite curious to know, curious and excited. It wasn't everyday that Kuro was actually excited to tell Shiro something. It had also been awhile since she's seen her brother, so it was nice to go see him, and to tell him about that oh so beautiful song that she heard. When she landed on the ground she let out a quiet grunt as she stood up straight, stretching her arms. Then she began to run on the blue skyscraper, moving her head from side to side in search for her brother. There weren't many places for him to hide considering that it was mostly only skyscrapers. That didn't mean he couldn't hide behind one though.

Footsteps began to disturb Shiro's sleep as they began to get closer. With an irritated and distorted sigh, he sat up as he opened his eyes, rubbing the back of his spiky pure white hair. He looked over his shoulder when he saw Kuro, he sister come to a stop in front of him, her gold black eyes looking down to his, a rather confused yet amused expression on her face. "What are you doing here, nee-san?" Shiro asked his voice a little hoarse as he was a little bit annoyed from being woken up so early.

Kuro smirked as she crossed her sleeveless arms over her chest, keeping the rather amused expression. "Oh I just wanted to see you! You're my nii-san after all, not only that but it's been such a long time!" The Hollow girl said in a teasing manor as she lightly kicked Shiro's side in a playful way, causing the older Hollow boy to scowl in annoyance. "Actually…I'm here to see if you heard that beautiful song an hour or two ago?"

Shiro stood up and gave a smirk to his sister, crossing his arms over his chest, moving his gold and black eyes down to those of her own. "Yes, I heard it. It was lovely wasn't it? And that's coming from me, a sadistic Hollow who isn't supposed to think things like that." The pure white spiky haired albino responded a faint amused tone in his voice as he answered Kuro. "It almost made me want to…" He trailed off as he saw the younger Hollow nod.

"I know…It made me want to too…It was so nice…I want to hear more of it, and when I do I think that-" Shiro had cut her off as his smirk only grew wider while he placed his pale hand on the girl's equally pale shoulder, he gave a nod of agreement to what she was about to say. He didn't need to hear anymore of what she was going to say, he knew that Kuro felt the same way he did, they were practically twins in a sense after all, so it was only natural for him to know what the Hollow was thinking. "Maybe I should head back to my world; if I hear it again I want to be there so that I can do what I need to do…" Kuro said in conclusion as she had a feeling that the two of them would definitely hear it again. Shiro only nodded, his smirk remaining wide and an almost excited expression was on his face. Without another word, Kuro turned around and began to walk, following the direction she came to head back to her own world.

* * *

Melek moaned again and just lied herself down on the bed in her and her brother's room, an exhausted look on her face. It had been an abnormally long day, in her opinion that was. It could've been the song like noise she heard early, which made her head pound and body ache, but even when it ended she felt like something was pressing against her body, like air was being pushed out of her. She didn't feel warm and she had the feeling it wasn't exactly an ailment like a flu or cold. The brunette figured it was more or less a state of mind, that or too much stress with the daily things. Already being in her white t-shirt and blue pyjama pants she pulled the blanket over her shoulders not bothering to wait for Ichigo. He was downstairs helping with cleaning up the kitchen; Melek was with him at for awhile, along with their sisters and dad. But after a couple minutes at most Melek began to hurt so she headed upstairs to sleep.

Downstairs as Ichigo was putting the cleaning supplies away, he groaned as he felt the same odd sensation he had felt before. A pain in his head and body, like someone was pounding on him. This kind of thing regularly didn't bother him, considering all the fighting experience he's had, but this sensation was different than anything he's felt before. Yet at the same time he also had a queer feeling that he's felt this before. So trying to think of where he could've felt this, he waved to Yuzu and Karin and began walking upstairs to his room, keeping his hand on his head. When he reached the bedroom he sighed and shook his head, unable to think of where he could've felt the feeling before. Without bothering to change out of his school uniform, Ichigo walked over to the bed and moved in beside his sister, wrapping his arms around her and pulling his sister towards him, he closed his eyes easily falling asleep.

From outside the Kurosaki Residence the two Arrancar from earlier that day were sitting on a nearby telephone pole. The two siblings could feel the reiatsu between the Kurosaki's fluctuating from time to time once Kazumi finished singing her song. Kazumi crossed her arms and smirked, tilting her head to the side to move her bangs back in place, she looked up at her younger brother and gave a faint nod, her pale green eyes amused and impressed with her own power.

"Haha…I guess they got infected by it…It'll only be a matter of time now." The ebony haired girl stated as she looked back towards the Kurosaki house, her amusement staying in her expression. She didn't quite think that her ability would work right away with the two, but to her surprise it had.

"Yes, you did good…" Arata agreed quietly as he looked down at his sister with his purple eyes. "Now we need to go to the Soul Society…" He continued on his expression only growing more serious, a faint smirk beginning to appear on his face as he said this.

* * *

So this is the first chapter of my SCHERZO fanfiction, obviously, hehehe. It's a little choppy because 1. I was writing this a bit past midnight and was tired, but I really wanted to write so I didn't go to bed until I was done. 2. When I edited it, it was around midnight and I had to rush it.

Oh and so you all know, the beginning of this chapter is from a scene in one of the later chapters, just so you all know that. :)

Translations:

**Nee-san**= Sister

**Nii-san**= Brother

**Shinigami**= Soul Reaper

**Senpai**= Honorific referring to one who is older/higher up than yourself

**Chan**= Honorific usually referring to close friends(In this case)

**San**= Honorific usually referring to "Miss" "Mrs" or "Mister"


	2. Chapter 2

**DISCLAIMER: BLEACH BELONGS TO KUBO TITE  
**Hello again!

Fast update, huh? Haha, that's because I already had this chapter done, along with chapter three, currently working on the other chapters atm. I'm starting school soon though so updates may be slow, but I will update! :)

Reviews are always welcome, just no flames, thank you.

* * *

**SCHERZO CHAPTER 2**

Arata crossed his arms over his chest and let out a huff of annoyance, his eyes looking down on the ground, where his foot lay on a shinigami's dead body. To him, you could barely call it a fight that took place, because it ended before it had even started. He had even given the shinigami a chance to fight back, but he was too slow so Arata took care of the situation quickly. He scratched the side of his head with his finger and shook his head, sighing once more. After 17 months he had expected the Soul Society to be much stronger than that.

His ebony haired sister turned to him, her pale eyes ignoring the dead shinigami underneath Arata's foot. "You shouldn't have killed him, he might've had one of them too you know…" Kazumi mumbled with an irritated sigh. Then a smile washed onto her face. "Never the less, that won't be a problem because, after all, we don't want any of the weak ones, we want all the powerful ones…" The Arrancar stated as she looked up at the blue sky, her green eyes filled with excitement and malice. Without any kind of warning, she put her hand to her chest, and began to sing, her voice echoing throughout the canopy of the Soul Society.

It hadn't taken long for the song to catch onto the upcoming warm wind. It was a nice summer wind. It was good for Kazumi because the more wind, the more her song trailed out, which was the plan to begin with, that's usually how it all started with her. She kept up the song, not yet wanting to stop as she did like the enjoyment of singing. She also wanted it to last awhile so that the song could go for miles into the Seireitei.

"Only a matter of time now…"

* * *

Rukia raised an eyebrow as she looked up at the sky, stopping in her tracks not paying attention to Renji who only kept walking, not quite noticing anything. As Rukia stared up at the sky, she raised her thin eyebrow, a rather confused expression on her face as she heard a rather odd song. It was odd, but it sounded lovely in Rukia's opinion, at the same time, she suddenly felt a little bit sick.

Moaning quietly, Rukia placed her gloved hand on her head and stared at the ground. It felt like someone just punched the air out of her, or smashed a hammer against her head. Her head was pounding and her heart started skipping some beats while it began to beat faster and faster. The ebony haired girl winced in faint pain as she closed her eyes tightly, trying to concentrate on relaxing so she could ignore the sudden headache she had.

"Rukia?" The vice-captain of squad six asked as he looked down at the shorter girl. Once he noticed that Rukia had stopped, he walked back to his fiancé and raised his tattooed eyebrow, a bit confused as to why she was holding her head and moaning in pain. "Rukia, what's wrong?" Renji asked gingerly as he placed a hand on the girl's shoulder gently.

"I-it's nothing…Let's just continue our walk, okay?" The violet eyed girl responded her voice a little bit hoarse. Rukia rubbed her head again and then she stood up straight, coughing into her fist lightly to clear her throat. Looking up at the red-head, she began to walk off in the direction they were originally going, not bothering to wait for him. Rukia crossed her arms as Renji caught up to her, which she didn't exactly notice as she began to wonder why she had suddenly gotten that headache. It happened not too long after she had heard the song, the girl thought about it, but it just didn't seem logical to her, so once again, she shook her head and continued walking beside Renji.

Renji sighed and rubbed the back of his head as he watched Rukia carefully. He looked behind them to see if someone was following them, but no one was. The vice-captain wanted to ask what was wrong with Rukia again, hoping for a real answer this time, but he figured that it wasn't best at the time. So he left it alone and followed along side Rukia, his red eyes looking up at the bright blue sky as he only continued to have thoughts of what happed running through his head. Renji opened his mouth to say something to Rukia but he stopped himself with another sigh. He knew better than to ask questions at a certain time, but this bugged him.

"Renji…If you really want to know, I'll tell you but on one condition. If you think I'm crazy or something, I'll leave, be nice and I'll stay…" Rukia sighed as she knew that Renji wanted to ask what had happened. This caught the red-head's attention so he looked down at Rukia who held out her hand. "Okay..?"

* * *

"Nee-san, I'm going back to the Human World to see if there are any changes, you stay here and keep watch too, understand?" Arata asked as he had already began walking; he looked over his shoulder at his older sister, raising an eyebrow to see if it was okay. Even if it wasn't okay, he was willing to go with or without his sister, not wanting to keep watch of only one world.

"Go ahead; if anything happens I'll contact you, that or I'll come get you." The shorter tanned girl answered waving her hand as she only looked down at the ground, her pale green eyes scanning the Seireitei, quite interested to see certain people's reactions to the song she had sung awhile ago. Without another word, she only continued to scan the area, keeping her senses high for fluctuating reiatsu that she figured would occur sooner or later. The sooner the better.

Arata shook his head at his sister's tone then he nodded at the approval for him to head off to the Human World. Without waving or saying goodbye, the boy snapped his tanned fingers, causing the familiar black portal to open up before him. The red-head looked over at his sister once more, then he stepped on through into the Garganta the portal soon closing behind him. After he ran through the Garganta, Arata arrived back at the lively Human World.

Not bothering to lower his reiatsu in the slightest he began to walk on the sky, just scanning the area for a certain couple of people. He didn't really figure that any of the normal humans would be affected by his sister's song. Arata was only interested in the two, weather their friend's somehow got affected by it didn't matter much to him at all. He just wanted to have a little fun. To have some new meat to play with. With this thought in mind, he laughed quietly to himself, shaking his head crossing his arms over his chest.

_Now let's see…Who should I target first? So many delicious souls around, I can only imagine how wonderful they'll taste…_ Arata thought with a smirk growing, some of it being covered by the mask fragment on the left side of his cheek. _This'll be a great way to get their attention, and then I can have a little fun! _After the Arrancar thought of this, he saw a lone human walking by near the building he had been standing on. Even though he knew this wasn't the guy or girl he was looking for he simply jumped down and landed behind the human. Arata knew the person couldn't see him, which made it all the more fun to him. Not wasting any time, the Arrancar smirked as he quickly moved behind the human, easily catching up to him. He grabbed the guy's shoulder and wrapped his arm around his waist. Laughing at the human, Arata's smirked grew wider as he quite enjoyed hearing the screaming of this man. Not wasting any time again he bit down on the man's shoulder, beginning to suck out his soul. Soon the man's screams died down and Arata dropped him on the ground. Wiping his mouth off the Arrancar let out a satisfied sigh as he began to walk again.

* * *

Rukia glared at Renji in utter annoyance to what he had said. Her violet eyes narrowed and a frown on her face, she turned around and crossed her arms over her chest, huffing. Rukia had thought Renji and her made a deal that Renji wouldn't think she was crazy. The ebony haired girl didn't even bother waiting for Renji to say anything else; she just began to walk away, her glare now on the floor.

"Ru-Rukia!? I'm sorry, Rukia! It's just that-!" The red-head called after her as he watched his fiancé walk away from him. He slapped himself mentally for saying what he had, but it just slipped out. A mistake is all it had been. In mid sentence Renji stopped when he saw Rukia look over his shoulder, glaring at him her violet eyes piercing.

"Leave me alone!" She snapped in anger, her thin black eyebrows furrowed, and her voice slightly quavering. Rukia still had the small headache in her and it brought her a little bit of pain, but when Renji had said what he had, it made her feel worse. Once again, without waiting for Renji to respond she began to run off and away from him, her eyes continuing to glare at the ground. Before Renji had a chance to even go after her, Rukia was gone as she used her flash step to get out of the area entirely.

Renji sighed again and rubbed the back of his head, moving his brown eyes down at the ground. "Dammit…I shouldn't have said that…Dammit!" Renji cursed as he balled his fists in annoyance. _Stupid Renji! Stupid! She's your fiancé man! How could you!_ The vice-captain thought to himself mentally, feeling absolutely stupid for what he said. _"Wow Rukia! That's nuts! You must be a little wonked up in there somewhere!" Smartass! _Renji exclaimed again in his head, and then he groaned and crossed his arms, shifting his eyes to the side. "Dammit…" He cursed again.

From above Renji the Arrancar stood up in the sky, keeping her reiatsu hidden so that shinigami couldn't sense her. Kazumi had a smirk on her face as she crossed her arms over her chest again, keeping the pale green eyes on the situation. _Well well well…Looks like it affected that little girl. Now to go around to the other squad's~_ The ebony haired woman thought to herself with enjoyment. Then when she noticed Renji beginning to look up, she used her sonido to get out of the area quickly.

* * *

Arata stood and faced the two that had finally showed up. It hadn't taken long for them to, especially after he killed the human. He expected this to happen, it was what he wanted. The red-head finally got the 'New meat' he could play with, which caused him to lick his lips in delight, a smirk washing onto his features, his purple eyes hinting malice in them. This wasn't the first time he's seen the two, after all the other day he did stalk them to see if they would be infected by Kazumi's song, which it seems they had been. Not fully, but Kazumi and Arata didn't want them to be fully consumed by it.

"And you are?" The brunette asked as she pulled out her over sized zanpakuto, not having any hesitation in her movements, her dark brown eyes narrowed as she glared at the red-headed Arrancar standing before them. Her brother didn't bother making any threatening movements towards the Arrancar, not yet that is. Ichigo only had his hand on his sword's black hilt, keeping his chocolate brown eyes on Arata. It was odd to them both, not quite knowing that the Arrancar's would still attack them after Aizen's defeat.

"Who am I? Is that really important? It shouldn't be, after all you two won't last long. Not against me." Arata cockily said as he moved his purple eyes to the side in amusement to Melek's demand. He then looked back at them and let out a huff, still fairly amused as he noticed the glares he was receiving from the substitutes before them. Without another word from him, he dashed forward with great speed gaining on them quickly, going for Melek first knowing that she was a bit weaker than her brother.

Making fast movements Ichigo withdrew his sword from his back and stepped in front of his sister, swinging his zanpakuto at Arata, who took out his own sword and clashed it against Ichigo's bigger one, not feeling much from the impact from the blades, sparks flying off them. The orange spiky haired teen narrowed his eyes and pushed back on the blade and pushed Arata back a bit, glaring at the equally tall Arrancar. Then he got into a defensive stance and kept Melek behind him.

"Screw with the wrong person. And I'll kill you." Ichigo muttered with venom in his voice, watching as the smirk on Arata's face grew wider then it had before. Then Ichigo blinked and sweat dropped as he looked down at Melek who moved out from behind him, her eyes not exactly impressed or serious as she put her one hand on her hip.

"I can take care of myself, Ichigo; I'm not a child anymore." Melek stated as she turned her head to the side in annoyance from her brother's actions. It wasn't anything new really, she didn't mind that fact that he wanted to protect her, because that's what big brother's do for their littler sister's. But at the same time Melek felt like she was getting babied by Ichigo sometimes, by him not allowing her to fight, or keeping her back. It was starting to easily get on her nerves, figuring that Ichigo thought she wasn't able to handle herself.

Ichigo glared at his sister in an almost teasing way as he forgot that the two were engaged in a fight. "Well excuse me, princess! I was trying to help you! You obviously needed it because you were too slow to act!" The older boy exclaimed with a strict nod, turning his head away stubbornly.

From afar Arata watched and deadpanned while he sweat dropped, a look of amusement on his face. _I hadn't quite expected this…They're worse than nee-san…_He thought to himself. Then he shook his head with a smirk, he put his hands out in front of him and he began to form a large yellow cero. Not bothering to wait for the two to finish their conversation or bothering to wait for them to react and fight back to him, he fired the bright beam from his hand.

Grabbing his sister's arm quickly Ichigo flash stepped out of the way just before the cero had time to hit them both. Once he let go of Melek's arm, he gripped his sword with both hands and faced Arata. He jumped up in the air and reiatsu began to form from the tip of Zangetsu. "Getsuga Tenshou!" Ichigo called firing the blue boomerang like attack from his sword sending it at Arata with no hesitation.

Arata simply put his sword out in front of him and then he cut down the middle of the Getsuga Tenshou. From Ichigo's point of view it almost seemed as though it was too easy for the red-headed Arrancar to destroy the attack. Arata then jumped up in the air and gripped his blue hilted sword with his one hand then he went to send an attack at Ichigo. Before the attack could reach him a familiar yellow beam flashed in between the attacks, and prevented Ichigo from receiving any damage from Arata. Almost simultaneously, both Ichigo and Arata moved their eyes to the brunette who had fired the attack quickly and at ease.

As Ichigo turned back to Arata to send another attack at him, the white clothed being cut straight down Ichigo's left shoulder, keeping his sword inside the orange haired boy's body, a smirk on his face, purple eyes filled with malice. Ichigo grunted a little bit from the attack and he placed his pale hand on the grey sword and yanked it out of his shoulder, grunting again from the faint pain he had received from pulling the blade out.

Melek scowled and ran in at Arata clashing swords with him, causing yellow and orange sparks to fly off of their blades. _Something feels odd…_Melek thought to herself as Arata pushed on the brunette's blade harder, causing her to shrink a little as she went and pushed back, trying to keep it equal to his. _It's almost as if he's…_The teenagers thoughts were cut off as Arata pulled a fast move by twirling his fingers, re-clutching his sword he impaled it through Melek's stomach, twisting the blade while it was in her stomach. The brunette cringed a little and coughed up a little bit of blood from the sudden attack.

The orange haired teen gripped his sword tighter as he swung his sword at the Arrancar, cursing at him for harming his sister. Arata was quick and he sliced his sword out of Melek's stomach, he kicked the brunette's side and sent her off crashing into a building. Before Ichigo's attack met the red-head's body, he blocked the attack with his own sword and smirked at Ichigo. Grabbing the back of Ichigo's head, Arata smashed his head against Ichigo's, causing the younger boy to grunt in pain. Then Arata kneed Ichigo's stomach and as Ichigo coughed up blood and lightly fell forward from the heavy impact, the red-head slammed his swords hilt against Ichigo's back, sending Ichigo to the ground.

As Ichigo slammed into the ground, he grunted and tried to catch some air, panting lightly from having hard impact on the ground. "Ngh! Dammit!" He cursed as he stood up, pulling Zangetsu from the ground. "Hey, Melek are you alright?" Ichigo called over to his sister as he noticed her coming out from the building she had crashed into.

"Hehe…No moving for the Kurosaki girl~!" The purple eyed man chimed with malice in his voice. After he said this he sondio'd over to Melek and before the brunette got the chance to get her blade in a protective stance, Arata grabbed Melek's throat and stared at her for a moment, as though trying to get into her mind. Not having luck with this he got a better grip on her and he pulled her out of the building and slammed her down onto the concrete with a heavy impact, causing Melek to cough up a little more blood, panting lightly to try and get her air back.

Ichigo's eyes widened just a little bit and as he gripped his sword he swung it off to the side. "Getsuga-" His eyes widened a bit more as Arata sent his yellow cero at Ichigo with great speed. "Tenshou!" Ichigo yelled after he shook his head to get himself back in place. It was a bit too late for that and as the attacks collided it blew up in Ichigo's face, causing him to skid back and crash into the wall of a nearby building. When the smoke cleared he scowled and went to move and get out of the building, but before getting the chance too, his brown eyes widened again as Melek as roughly thrown into him. Caught by surprise Ichigo and Melek slammed into each other and broke through the abandoned building's wall, causing them to fall back onto the floor. Ichigo coughed out some more blood and groaned as he held his head. It had been burnt a little bit from the two attacks colliding and his head was bleeding a little bit from when Melek slammed into him and caused them to break through the wall and fall on the floor heavily.

"How're you feeling, Melek?" Ichigo asked with his voice a bit hoarse from the impacts he had done to him. He carefully stood up and wiped some blood from his eyes, and then he helped Melek stand up. He looked her over carefully to see if she was too badly injured. It looked as if she hadn't been, only a few burns, bruises and the cut on her stomach.

Melek scowled as she rubbed her head, feeling a little bit dizzy from being thrown around a lot. She wouldn't whine or complain because her brother was going through the same thing she was. "I'm fine but this guy seems like he's-" She was cut off as she heard laughing, and yet another cero was fired into the building from Arata who was smirking and seemed overly amused. Quickly, Melek put her hand out in front of her. "Jitsugetsu!"

* * *

Haha, I really like this chapter, I like the cliffhanger, I remember when I showed it to my friend she was way too over dramatic because of it xD It got her excited, hehehe.

So this chapter is way less choppy than the first one, longer too, I believe, if I remember correctly. Hehe.

Translations:

**Nee-san=** Sister

**Nii-san=** Brother

**Shinigami=** Soul Reaper

**Reiatsu=** Spiritual Pressure


	3. Chapter 3

**SCHERZO Chapter 3**

The familiar blonde blue eyed vice-captain of squad three helped his Vizard captain to the office's couch, and he carefully lied the man down. It was an odd occurrence really. One minute Rose the blonde captain was feeling just fine, the next minute he was coughing and sick with a rather harsh headache, so he told Kira Izuru. Izuru also felt a little odd but he thought nothing of it as he was too concerned about the new squad three captain, considering it wasn't exactly normal for one to suddenly break out into sickness.

After Izuru got his captain to lie down, he went to the office's closet and pulled out a thick white blanket. He walked back over to the couch and placed the soft object on top of the Vizard and then he went back to the closet, and when he grabbed a pillow he made his way back to Rose and placed said object under the man's head to make him more comfortable. The blue eyed man then stood there and kept his arms by his sides, raising his eyebrow.

"Will you be okay, Captain?" Izuru asked with a calm tone in his voice as he eyed the man in curiosity, a little unsure of what was happening. "Would you like me to call Captain Unohana to come and see what's wrong?" He suggested, figuring that that would probably be the best idea for the situation at hand.

Giving a faint smile of gratitude, Rose shook his head and closed his eyes. His breaths were uneven and he was sweating a little bit from the sudden sickness that had washed over him. "No thank you, Izuru. I'll be fine." Rose answered with his voice barely audible, but audible enough for one to hear. "I think I'm just going to rest a bit…" He said in conclusion as he closed his eyes.

Izuru nodded and then he gave a faint bow to his superior's words. Without another word, the blonde man walked out of the office and quietly closed the door behind him so he could let his captain rest. He still felt as though he should've gotten Unohana, but he decided that it was best that he could trust what Rose had told him. After all, sometimes naps could easily make a person feel better when they're sick. Izuru began to walk down the halls of the squad three barracks and he looked around trying to see if anyone else was feeling ill. If it were more than one person there would be a good definite reason to get Unohana.

As the blue eyed man was walking down the halls, he ran into a familiar face. It was his best friend, well one of them. He had black spiky hair, a sixty-nine tattoo on his cheek, and a tattoo across his nose. His sleeves were rolled up and he had three scars on his face. This man was formally known as Hisagi Shuhei, the vice-captain of squad nine. Izuru walked up to his friend and gave the faintest of smiles as he greeted him. "Hey Shuhei, what brings you here?" He asked raising an eyebrow, kind of curious.

Shuhei rubbed his head as he looked down at the blonde vice-captain. "I was here to check on you and Captain Rose." The ebony haired man responded with a faint nod, his eyes having a serious look in them along with a somewhat laid back one, as he figured that the situation shouldn't be taken too seriously just yet. However he did want to check in on the two of them, just to be sure everything was alright, after all you never know.

"The Captain is a bit sick right now, so he's taking a nap…" Izuru explained with a sigh as well while he crossed his arms over his chest. He then raised his blonde short eyebrow and looked at Shuhei. "Why? Is Captain Kensei like that too, Shuhei? Did he suddenly get sick?" The vice-captain asked as he narrowed his eyes as his expression quickly became serious. _They are both Vizards so…And if Shuhei came here to ask me about this that must mean that his Captain is sick too…_He thought to himself seriously.

Shuhei nodded as a scowl washed onto his face. He narrowed his eyes as well and sighed. "Damn it…The same thing happened to my captain, I don't know why it just suddenly happened…" The ebony haired man started then he went on and continued. "I went to take him to lie down and he refused and continued to be stubborn, but after awhile I got him to lie down. He's taking a nap now too, but the way he just got sick so suddenly it's confusing…" Shuhei said in conclusion as he rubbed the back of his head in uncertainty.

Before Izuru had a chance to respond, a member from his squad began to walk towards them. Like Rose he looked sickly and in a lot of pain. The man began to totter and his eyebrows were etched, his mouth was twitching and his entire body was shaking. He reached his hand out at the two vice-captains, which caught their attention causing the two of them to watch this squad three member. His arm was shaking vigorously as he reached out. "I'm so…So…" His voice was quavering and his words had been slurred. His cheeks weren't rosy pink so he mustn't have been drinking. "Hungry…" He finished.

Izuru placed both of his hands out and looked down at the member. "Alright, come on we'll get you some-" The blonde man was cut off. The member of the squad shook his head and a quiet growl escaped from his throat as he shook his entire body. "It's okay, calm down…" Izuru said with his voice soft and calm to try and get the man to relax.

"I'm hungry!" The member exclaimed as he opened his eyes widely. They were black and gold, like that of a hollow's eyes. "I'm very hungry! I want to eat!" He yelled as he leapt forward. As he did Izuru and Shuhei quickly jumped off to the side and looked at him in confusion and shock with slightly widened eyes. After the man fell on the ground he stood up and whipped his head over to the two of them. He only had one expression in his face. Malice. He began to bite at the air as he began to go towards the two. Izuru and Shuhei quickly continued to move back and away from the member, not wanting to hurt him in anyway. Not wanting to provoke him.

Izuru turned around and his eyes widened slightly at the sight he saw. It was more than half the squad if not the entire squad. Their eyes were all black and gold and they were all growling deeply as they all began to slowly approach both of the vice-captain's. Izuru turned to Shuhei with a serious expression. "Come on! We can't fight them here, we have to get to a training ground or somewhere that no one will get hurt!" He exclaimed, causing Shuhei to give a nod of agreement.

* * *

"Momo relax, I'm sure he'll be fine…" Hino Alev the third seat of squad five whispered to her girlfriend sweetly as she placed a hand on the younger girl's shoulder. "He's a strong man." The Arrancar stated with a faint smile to relax the ebony haired girl standing next to her in the hallway. Alev had been in the Soul Society for around two years, she may have been an Arrancar but she was eventually accepted into the Soul Society. For the first year she had to have a captain watch over her, captain or vice-captain. Then after awhile the Soul Society slowly began to trust her. After all the Arrancar's were regularly the enemy, but Alev had defected from Aizen Sosuke's army.

The ebony haired girl moved her hazel eyes up to Alev's red ones. "I know he's a strong man, but I'm still worried.." Momo whispered as she rubbed her arms, lightly fingering her vice-captain's badge that was on her left arm. She then moaned quietly and rubbed her head. She had a headache for awhile, a little bit before Hirako Shinji, her captain started to get sick. It was an odd feeling to her, like she was very hungry and had a headache because of it. However, that wasn't the case because she had eaten that morning, so she was a little confused as to why she had a headache so suddenly.

"You alright, Love?" The fox-like Arrancar asked raising an eyebrow as she noticed her friend rub her head. Alev knew when Momo was feeling alright or not, after all she had known her for quite a long time, if one could call two years a long enough time. For her it was long enough and in those two years it was like she knew Momo inside out.

Momo looked up at Alev and her irises flicked to the colour of gold and then hazel like the snapping of one's finger. At this sudden flash in her eyes, Alev raised an eyebrow not sure if what she saw was legit or not. Momo shook her head and smiled as she crossed her arms. "I'm fine! Just a little bit of a headache! Let's go get some paperwork finished for Captain Hirako!" The ebony haired girl chimed as bubbly as usual. The brunette kept her eyebrows raised as she was a little bit sceptical but nevertheless she followed the other girl into the office.

Alev looked over to her new captain to see if he was feeling any better, but he was sleeping and didn't look any better than he had before. So while shaking her head in uncertainty she walked over to the desk, taking a seat she began to work on some of the paperwork there along with the over enthusiastic vice-captain.

* * *

Moaning and holding his head Hitsugaya Toshiro grabbed his pure snow white hair and closed his eyes tightly, taking in a deep breath. He was lightly cursing under his breath as he didn't feel very well, as though he was going through cancer or being awake while someone was doing surgery on him. His vice-captain Matsumoto Rangiku was sober enough to know that something was bothering her captain, and it worried her quite a great deal.

When Toshiro looked up he was sweating lightly and he was panting a little bit. His turquoise eyes were watching the silver eyed busty woman in his office. He looked a little bit confused as he rubbed the sweat off of his forehead. "Who…Are…" Toshiro started with his voice quiet and then his eyes widened and he coughed into his fist. He took another deep breath and sighed closing his eyes. "Matsumoto…Can you get me some tea?" He asked with his hoarse voice.

Rangiku raised an eyebrow as her captain was about to ask a question and then stopped as he coughed. She etched her eyebrows faintly, a little bit confused as to what was happening and she gave a faint nod to her captain's request. "Yes sir! Please wait a moment!" She responded as she walked out of the barracks entirely, worry written all over her face along with a bit of confusion as well.

Toshiro sat there and rested his head in his arms; he sighed and took a deep breath to calm himself down. It wasn't everyday he felt sick and he didn't like the feeling. It felt as if his appendix had blown and his body was being filled with poison. _Why was I going to ask who Matsumoto was? That's stupid of me…Where did that illness even come from anyway? Ugh…_The small boy thought to himself as he closed his eyes a little, a little bit confused and frustrated with himself mostly.

When Rangiku walked back into the room she handed Toshiro the tea he requested. "Are you alright, Captain?" The woman asked in concern as she lightly tilted her head to the side. "It looked like you were having a heart attack…Maybe it was because you keep overworking yourself…" Rangiku sighed and rubbed the back of her thick strawberry blonde hair.

After Toshiro finished half of his cup of tea he looked at his subordinate and sighed shaking his head. "No no. I'm fine, Matsumoto. Believe me; just a random convulsion from a headache is all. I'm feeling much better now." The short boy said simply as he placed his cup down. It wasn't exactly a lie but it wasn't the whole truth either as he still had a little bit of a headache.

* * *

The forest was all quiet until the sounds of many shinigami's footsteps were beginning to ring out through the large forest. The ground was thumping lightly and pebbles were shaking a little bit from all the pounding of footsteps of shinigami running. There must've been at least a hundred of them and it shook up the entire forest. Leaves began to fall off the oak trees, maple trees, all the trees as the two vice-captains ran past. As they ran past one could see a whole hoard of shinigami following them. However they weren't normal shinigami at all, their eyes were black and gold like a hollows, and they were hungry for the souls of the shinigami vice-captain's. They wouldn't give up until they had at least one of them, that's all they wanted.

Izuru and Shuhei came to a stop when they reached a clearing in the large forest. They turned to the Hollow Reapers before them and watched as they all spread out in a circle to make sure that the two normal shinigami wouldn't escape from them. There were many growls coming from the members of squad three, growls and looks of malice. They had no feelings anymore. They only had one instinct, and that instinct was to kill. A hollow's instinct. The Hollow Reapers, well some of them, were saying that they were hungry and that they wanted the vice-captain's.

"What now, Kira?" Shuhei whispered to his friend as he eyed all of the Hollow Reapers. They had been surrounded sure, but that didn't mean that they couldn't attack them, or that they couldn't escape. However at the same time, Shuhei didn't want to hurt them because he knew that the hollows somehow got a hold of these shinigami and that the real shinigami was inside the body elsewhere.

"We could use Hakufuku and knock them all out…I remember that Hinamori-kun did that when she broke out of prison last year. You know when she went and attacked Captain Hitsugaya…" The blonde man whispered back to his superior. "This way we won't actually be hurting them, only knocking them out and then we can get the relief squad to come and heal them."

Shuhei gave a faint nod to this, knowing that this was probably the best way to go at it. It would be better than actually hurting them or having to kill them. Knocking them out was most likely the surest way to get the shinigami back in control of their own bodies. Not only that, but the two of them weren't half bad a Kido and Hakufuku, being a Kido that knocks one out, could be spread out. As long as the Hollow Reapers were looking at them, they would become unconscious.

As if they had rehearsed this before, which they had not. They both went back to back and looked at all the Hollow Reapers surrounding them, and as they all got closer Izuru and Shuhei got ready. "Hakufuku!" The two vice-captains chanted at the same time. Purple blossoms began to fall from the sky mysteriously, surrounding the user's bodies, and then the two of them waited for the Bakudo spell to take place.

As the Hollow Reapers went into to leap, they all noticed the odd petals that came out of nowhere. They stared at them for awhile and they all tilted their heads to the side, watching them. Growls escaped from their throats but so did distorted moans. It wasn't long before one or two of them dropped unconscious. Soon others began to drop as well, and then before one knew, they all were on the ground, knocked out.

* * *

The black huge oversized trench-knife like Zanpakuto flung out of the ground and into its owner's hands. The brunette gripped the swords black hilt tightly and slammed it downwards sending out a stronger Suta Senko than before along with force from the swing of her sword. As the attack and force was sent out of the blade, it created a long crack in the ground as it had blasted its way through the Arrancar's bright sun yellow cero. Melek stood up straight and kept her sword tightly in her hand, getting it into a defensive stance now that the cero was destroyed from her two attacks. She let out a sigh of relief as she was able to react to the surprise cero fast enough to get her zanpakuto to her before any damage could have been done to the two siblings.

Ichigo looked down at his brown haired sister and then he moved his eyes at the hole in the abandoned buildings wall, glaring as the red-headed Arrancar walked into it, his hands in his white hakama pockets. _Melek was saying something about this guy but then he fired the cero and cut her off…What was she saying? Crap of all the things, this could be important but…_Ichigo scowled as he only continued to glare at Arata.

Arata stopped a few feet away from the two Kurosaki's his expression nonchalant yet at the same time he looked like he was impressed. Impressed faintly though, it wasn't a true feeling of impression at all. More like a taunting kind of impressed. In more of a mocking way, per say. "Well, I didn't think you would react that fast to it." The purple eyed man said simply, which explained the mocking impression he had on his face. "No matter. I'm still having fun." Arata continued with a smirk on his face. He then withdrew his sword again and aimed it at the two of them.

Melek scowled as she eyed Arata carefully. Not knowing this Arrancar well enough to be able to read his movements as to what he would do next, she didn't make a charge at him; instead she only watched his movements carefully, taking mental notes as he began to walk towards the two. She was debating whether or not to send a Suta Senko to see how he would deflect it or how he would react to it, but then she figured that was useless as he seemed ready to attack the two of them.

As Arata picked his one foot off the ground, a new reiatsu started to spread out through the World of the Living. This had caught all of their attention, mostly Arata's because he recognized this reiatsu and knew it anywhere. He cursed under his breath as he looked up at the ceiling of the building, hoping that by chance he might've been wrong. However he knew much better than that.

"Arata!" Snapped a too familiar voice to the red-head Arrancar who looked over his shoulder at the hole he had made in the wall. There stood his sister. He was right; it was his sister who showed up. "What the _hell _do you think you're doing?" Kazumi asked lowering her voice, ignoring the two Kurosaki's who were getting into defensive stances and watching both of them. Arata fully turned around and placed his sword back in its sheath, not answering his sister.

"I was just uh…Er…" Arata stopped himself from answering his green eyed sister, and he moved his own purple eyes to the side as he rubbed the back of his head. _She just _had _to show up, didn't she?_ The Arrancar asked himself as he frowned, letting out a quiet sigh that he made barely audible.

"You were just? Just what? Playing with new meat? Is that what you were doing, nii-san?" Kazumi asked as she placed one of her hands on her hips, her expression changing into a warm and welcoming expression rather than keeping her scolding and disappointed expression. She smiled as she saw her younger brother nod to her. Then she raised her hand and waved her finger as a gesture for Arata to come to her. "Arata, come here…" The ebony haired girl whispered.

Arata was reluctant and he wasn't sure if he actually wanted to do what his sister asked for a change. He'd much rather stay where he was than going over to her, as odd as that may have seen. The red-head would have much rather stayed near the two Kurosaki's, keeping his back turned to the two siblings and staying only a few feet away from them. That or he would've loved to continue playing with them but he knew better than that with his sister there. Letting out a sigh, Arata reluctantly walked over to Kazumi. That was a mistake on his hand, because as soon as he was close Kazumi elbowed him in the face harshly, causing the boy to fall onto his back in surprise. He held his chin and glared up at his sister with his purple eyes. "Hey! What the hell was that for?!"

"Baka!" Kazumi yelled in annoyance as a red anime vein popped up on her head. "It's for you being an absolute idiot! I sent you down here to _check on things_ not to _attack them_!" The ebony haired girl scolded as she watched Arata stand up. "Come on! We're going home. Now! I have news to report in as well." She said with a cold expression in her voice as she turned around and began to walk out.

"Yes nee-san…" Arata mumbled in a bit of frustration as he began to walk out with his sister, placing his hands in his white pants again, sighing.

Melek scowled as she took a step forward, an annoyed expression on her face. "Hey! Where the hell do you think you're going?! Walking away just because of your sister?! Pathetic!" She yelled obviously not liking the fact that the Arrancar had just intruded on their town so suddenly without warning.

Ichigo scowled as he placed his hand on Melek's shoulder. "Melek, shut up and let em' go. They're done, you heard them…" The orange haired teen requested as he noticed the brunette beginning to get antsy. He didn't want his sister to provoke them and get them to come back and fight. He'd much rather keep Karakura Town safe rather than letting them destroy it. Ichigo knew Melek felt the same, but when it came to her temper it was hard to cease.

Arata noticed the substitute's outburst and he let out an amused sigh. "Just be lucky, I'm done playing with you." He stated as he waved his slightly tanned hand, not bothering to even look over his shoulder at the frustrated girl. He found outbursts like this a bit amusing, and whenever he could he would try to make the person much more frustrated.

Melek glared at him and went to take a step forward but was kept held back by her brother. "Dammit! If you have something to say to me say it to my face like a man!" She yelled as she continued to watch the two of them walk away.

Arata sighed once more as he looked over his shoulder at her, his eyes locking with hers. "Oh shut up, chick. Be thankful, alright? I'll see you around, and by the way," He stopped as he pointed at Ichigo, which caused the orange haired boy to flinch a little bit. "Keep an eye on brother-dear over there. You never know what could happen." The red-head Arrancar mocked as he turned around and continued to walk away. He waited as his sister opened up the Garganta, and when his sister walked through, he looked back over his shoulder at the two. "Ja ne!" He exclaimed as he walked into the Garganta, and when he did, the portal closed.

* * *

Translations:

**Nee-san= **Sister

**Nii-san=** Brother

**Shinigami**= Soul Reaper

**Reiatsu= **Spiritual Pressure

**Baka**= Fool/Idiot

**Ja ne= **Later


	4. Chapter 4

**Disclaimer: Bleach belongs to Kubo Tite.**

****Yo! Firstly, I would like to apologize for the long wait, hisashiburi da, literally. Well, I just finished this chapter today, so it's fresh, haha.

Reviews are welcome. Just no flamers. Thank you and enjoy the feature presentation.

* * *

**SCHERZO Chapter 4**

"Beautiful! Beautiful! Everything is so beautiful! ~" Chimed a man with black shoulder length hair. He had his hands cupped to his cheeks as he was twirling around in the squad barrack's room, a wide smile on his features. This man was usually going on about how some things were beautiful while other things were ugly. He even had rules for himself. One of them being for him to never lay his eyes on someone who he finds ugly, it was just the kind of man he was. His bald best friend was in the same room with him and he was staring at the ebony haired man in a little bit of confusion. Madarame Ikkaku was, of course, used to Ayasegawa Yumichika ranting on about things like this. But usually he had a reason to, this time he didn't at all.

"Hey! Would you knock it off?! It's starting to get creepy!" Ikkaku snapped at his companion as he narrowed his eyes a little, a faint anime vein appearing on the corner of his face. His bald head shined a little bit as the sun's rays came through the nearby window as he rested his arm on his knee; he was waiting for Yumichika to respond to him, and to stop doing what he was doing. Even their captain would be a little freaking out when Yumichika randomly started shaking his bottom around while humming 'Everything is so beautiful' for no reason whatsoever.

Yumichika moved his eyes down to Ikkaku, his big smile soon turning into a frown as he almost glared at him. It wasn't like him to actually lose his temper and get mad at the bald third seat, but today he felt like Ikkaku was attacking him, in which Ikkaku obviously was not. "Why? What's wrong with my dancing?" The man asked as he placed his hands on his hips harshly. "My happiness means nothing to you…Is that it?" He snapped as his black eyebrows furrowed deeply. The bald man furrowed his eyebrows as well as he only stared at Yumichika in a bit of confusion and faint shock. The short haired man turned around and scowled as he slammed his fist into the wall in frustration.

"Calm down, you know I didn't mean it like that. It's just creepy when you just act up like that. Even the Captain get's like that and you know it." Ikkaku defensively stated as he stood up as well, placing one of his muscular arms by his side, while the other placed on his hip as he watched Yumichika beginning to pace around the room they were in. From outside the wind began to pick up. It was a warm light wind and it entered through the open square window that was on the wall. Some green maple leaves began to float their way through the window from the nice breeze.

Yumichika only continued to scowl; he didn't say anything after Ikkaku made his defensive remark. He walked over to the door of their room and slid the door open, without even looking over his shoulder or saying anything to his best friend in whom he's known for a very long time, he walked out and then roughly slid the door shut again. He began to walk down the halls of the squad 11 barracks, his hands still in fists, face still in scowl. He hadn't really felt frustrated like that for a long time. There were his days where he would get annoyed, but he hadn't gotten this frustrated before. The ebony haired man knew that Ikkaku was only saying the truth, but at the same time, something else told him that Ikkaku was attacking him, trying to send him away or just be insulting. Yumichika didn't know what told him this; nothing usually did when it came to his friend. But this time was different, after that closet headache he suddenly received; he got annoyed quickly when the bald man began to 'attack him'.

With a very frustrated huff, the man looked over his shoulder at the room again, noticing that Ikkaku didn't follow him. He let out a sigh and closed his eyes, taking in deep breaths and then exhaling. Not wanting to be in the barracks anymore, the man with fashion sense used his flash step and left the area entirely.

* * *

He kept his eyes away from his ebony haired sister, his purple eyes staring blankly at the grey ground under their feet. His sister had been scolding him for at about five minutes, not even taking a break between each lecture of scolding. It wasn't anything new, but it still got on the red-headed Arrancar's nerves. It was not as though he did anything too bad to the Kurosaki's, he was just playing with them a little bit, enjoying himself, having a bit of fun, and also he was getting to know how they fought as well, which he figured would be rather important in the near future. But Kazumi being the older sister went into immediate scolding.

"Lastly! I have to say it was utterly foolish of you to go there to try and hurt them! Like I stated before I sent you there to check on things! We did not want them to find out about us right away, and look at what you do! You attack them and cause trouble! We do not want that right away! I've told you that before we started this whole mission!" The pale green eyed girl exclaimed in conclusion as she placed her hands on her hips, glaring at the younger brother before her, watching as the purple eyed Arrancar was stretching out his pure white t-shirt rather than replying to his sister. Kazumi knew that her brother did his best not to snap back at her, but she at least expected a reply and received nothing. To her though it wasn't that big of a deal if he replied or not. She let out a sigh and crossed her hands over her chest.

After that seemingly never lasting scolding, Arata wanted to head back to either the Soul Society or World of the Living to play with new meat. He'd much rather be there then in the sandy dark place of Hueco Mundo. It was much nicer in those places, in his point of view anyway. In Huceo Mundo it was always night time and dark, the only thing that shone was the moon, which was bright enough to provide some light, then there was the large castle of Las Noches. The Espada's used to linger there and they still had, well the ones that had lived from the winter war that was, other than the remaining Espada other Arrancar's began to gather there. Arata and Kazumi were never welcomed in the Las Noches castle, the Espada's and their Fraccione's would snap at them for being too dangerous because of Kazumi's song. So they had to make their way in a cave which they had made for themselves. They didn't meet many other Arrancar aside from ones that always got in their way. That was why Arata liked the Soul Society and World of the Living better, because there were people there that he could meet and play with, even if he would hurt them, he still found it amusing and something to do.

"Anyways, it seems my song has been working beautifully in the Soul Society. I went around to all the barracks and found that it infected pretty much all of the third squad. Many other squads are beginning to change as well, and I also found out that some captains and vice-captains are getting infected." The ebony haired Arrancar explained as a soft smile appeared on her features as her eyes began to soften as well. She felt rather proud that her song was working; she loved singing and was glad that others could hear it. Even if it hurt them. "Did you do anything to either of the Kurosaki's?"

Arata was barely paying attention to his sister as she began to talk about what she accomplished in the Soul Society. He was too busy thinking about all that scolding he received from her. It usually wasn't like him to hold scolding's at all, usually he easily let them go, but this time he felt different. Like Kazumi was only saying those things to try and purposefully piss him off. Then as he thought about it better, he only laughed to himself mentally and shook his head, realizing how stupid that was. The purple orbed man was only stressing because he didn't want to mess up their plans. Then he looked over at his sister. "No, I did nothing to them except examine and play with them." He answered with a faint nod as a response to her.

Kazumi gave a faint nod as well. "Good, we don't want anything to do with them right now. At the moment, we mostly want to focus on the Soul Society, and then later we can worry about the Kurosaki's."

* * *

With a thud Shiro landed in the sideways Inner World forest, and on one of the sideways trees. It had been awhile since he visited his sister, and he regularly didn't go there often because she usually came to him. He stood up and swiped off the dust on his white hakama. He moved his eyes around the Inner World, then blinked as he saw a robin get shot down by a red cero, which showed him exactly where Kuro was.

As Shiro was walking there he couldn't help but notice all the bloody robin feathers that were on the dark green luscious grass. He saw his pure white younger sister leaning against the truck of one of the trees, with a scowl on her face, a look of disappointment. The gold and black eyed boy raised his eyebrow. "Nee-san. Oi, why do you look so disappointed?" He question while stuffing his hands in his pockets dismissively.

Kuro looked up at him with her own gold and black eyes. "She was here, and she didn't sing. That must have been her! I could tell by the way she talked! Her voice was so silky…" The girl explained as she pointed up past Shiro's shoulder, she quietly murmured 'Cero', and she shot down yet another robin that was innocently flying by, and she watched as the body fell to the ground. "I really wanted her to sing!" Kuro exclaimed as she stood up, dusting off some bloody brown feathers.

Shiro shook his head and crossed his arms, rolling those gold orbs of his. "Listen, I know how you feel. I wanted her to sing to, more than you can imagine. But think about it, just listening to her voice is lovely. I'm sure if she talked enough we would be able to gain control. Then the Boss and King won't have much of a chance." The pure snow white spiky haired boy remarked, seeming rather confident about the situation.

Kuro rolled her eyes as well, getting irritated by Shiro already. "Well, why the hell did you come here then? Just to talk me to death? I have robins to kill." When she said this, Shiro couldn't help but sweat drop and look around, then look back at Kuro. It was obvious that killing birds was her hobby, he never fully understood why because she never told him, but he figured she had killed enough birds at the moment.

The white man just shook his head and crossed his arms. "No, I was wondering if you've formed a plan or anything for when that girl comes back." He explained, not bothering to bring up the fact that Kuro had killed multiple robins and that killing more wouldn't exactly be productive. After a long pause, Kuro just shook her head, letting out a distorted sigh, this caused Shiro to sigh too, but in annoyance. "Alright. Fine, but don't blame me if you don't take advantage of her voice."

* * *

_Don't you think it annoying? What he said to you? _There was a voice, and Rukia heard it clearly, though no one was around, it made her curious and confused as to where it was coming from. Though, the ebony haired woman knew what the voice was referring to. It was referring to what Renji had said to her, calling her crazy. There were times that Rukia would just love to jump kick Renji, but there was something about this time that made her feel more malice.

_Don't you want to…Get him back? _The voice asked it was a bit clearer than before. Rukia listened to the voice intensely to try and see if she's heard it before. It sort of reminded her of herself, and of Ichigo and or Melek when they hollowfied. But that couldn't have been it. Rukia wouldn't believe it. Rukia thought about things for a moment, and then shook her head. "I don't…" She whispered quietly to mostly herself, though she figured the voice would find her again, and talk to her.

She didn't wait though; Rukia began walking, she was hoping, that if she were to begin heading somewhere else, or just move in general, the voice would leave her alone. So she hoped. Deciding to not answer the voice again if it were to talk to her, she headed to her older brother's office.

When the violet eyed woman opened the doors to the office, she walked in and quickly bowed. "Nii-sama." She greeted before she stood up straight again, her arms remaining by her sides. The voice came back though, and it sent a chill down her spine. At that point the voice was just saying random things, things that happened to worry and slightly frighten Rukia. "Leave me alone." She muttered narrowing her eyes in anger, the ebony haired girl only meant to say it as a whisper, but it was much louder than that, and it caught Byakuya's attention.

The pale grey eyed man didn't even raise his brow; he only stared at Rukia with his normally cold eyes. "You are the one who came here. What do you need, Rukia?" The pale nobleman asked, not bothering to ask why she had said what she had. It wasn't exactly like her, but he figured it could be one of those bad days for her. "Oh. I have some news that you could report to your captain. Many Shinigami have been turning into Hollows and attacking their own. So be careful when you're out there. We're still trying to find a cause for this. Most of squad three is already gone." The man added in all seriousness. He wouldn't admit it to her face, but he did care about Rukia.

Rukia couldn't help but feel a laugh come from her throat, one she didn't do intentionally. "Oh, Byakuya…You're too protective of me. I am not a child anymore, brother dear." Her voice had an odd tone to it, a violet one and her words were filled with venom. When she looked over at Byakuya she had a smirk on her face, one that Byakuya had never seen on her before. "Don't worry about me." With that, Rukia turned and began walking away, her reiatsu lingering off of her body.

Byakuya narrowed his eyes at this. It was not like his sister whatsoever to act like that. He hoped that it was something that happened with Renji and not the hollowfication disease that was going around. However, not too long after Rukia left, the familiar redheaded dog entered the room. Byakuya placed his pen down and immediately began to question the lieutenant. "Renji. What happened to Rukia?"

Renji's heart skipped a beat for a moment, how should he answer? He thought about it for a moment, hoping Byakuya wouldn't notice that he was trying to think about it. The brown eyed man sighed and scratched the back of his redhead. "Well…She told me that she heard a song like thing in the sky and I said she sounded…Uh…Crazy?" The man nervously answered, getting ready to feel flower petals on his neck, the man closed his eyes tightly and raised his arms to protect himself from the 'wrath of Byakuya Kuchiki'.

However, the noble squad six captain did no such thing. As a matter of fact he was a little grateful that that's what was wrong with Rukia and not that she had the hollowfication disease. "I see." The ebony haired man started out, closing his eyes as his voice remained calm. "I suspect you will take care of that problem immediately. Renji." Byakuya didn't exactly request that, but he ordered it.

Renji flinched a little bit but opened his eyes, feeling relieved that Byakuya didn't attack him. Without further ado, he quickly left the room and headed to go check on Rukia to make her feel better.

* * *

Tick…Tick…Tick…The clock on the wall was slowly ticking by; there was a long silence in the little shack that was also Karakura's candy shop. In the one room, Ichigo, Melek and Urahara Kisuke sat around the round coffee table. The Kurosaki's went to ask questions about the two Arrancar that had showed up in the town. Kisuke let out a sigh and he finally began to answer. "Alright, so those two Arrancar have been here before, but what's more important is that they've been in the Soul Society." The man explained getting straight to the point. He took long to answer, not because he didn't know, but because he knew the Kurosaki's far too well.

Ichigo's chocolate brown eyes narrowed and his orange eyebrows furrowed. "What do you mean? Why couldn't we sense them when they were here?" The spiky haired substitute asked, starting to wonder about how bad his reiatsu sensing was. He could never really detect reiatsu clearly, but he did know when it was there.

The old captain of the 12th squad simply sighed and tipped his hat down. "They were concealing their reiatsu, it wasn't because of your lack of sensing reiatsu." He responded simply, knowing how Ichigo was feeling. "Listen. I sent Yoruichi to the Soul Society, and when she came back the other night, she stated that random Shinigami have began to hollowfy and attacking one another. However, no one knows the cause." The mysterious shop keeper explained in a serious manor.

Melek scowled and narrowed her eyes, glaring faintly. "Well what the hell does that mean? What about Rukia and Renji?! Are they alright?" The brunette asked immediately worrying about how her friends were holding up. "Oh and why the hell didn't you say something earlier?! BAKA!" The girl yelled in annoyance, a red anime vein popping up and down on her forehead.

Ichigo sweat dropped and placed a hand on his sister's shoulder. He wouldn't say it aloud, but he was worrying about Rukia and their nakama as well. "Urahara-san?"

"No, Yoruichi said that they were fine. It was random squad members. If it were a captain or lieutenant we would immediately begin more research, but we haven't much to go on right now." Urahara continued on, and then raised his finger, that comical smile of his easily coming on his face as he pulled out his fan. "I didn't tell ya because you didn't ask!" He exclaimed in joy. The next thing he knew he had an elbow slammed right in that chin of his.

"This is serious, baka!" Melek exclaimed with yet another anime vein continuing to go up and down in annoyance. After that though she stood up and began to walk away from the sitting area. She walked back to the shop's entrance and opened up the hatch to Kisuke's secret training grounds.

Kisuke and Ichigo quickly followed after her confused as to what she was doing. Though, Kisuke knew knowingly. "Melek-san…I don't think that would be a good idea…" The blonde messy haired man remarked while he shook his head seriously. "What if they get to your Hollows?"

The brunette only smirked while she took hold of her brother's arm. Without saying anything she jumped down the hatch into the training grounds taking her brother with her. "Who cares?! Everyone's in trouble, open the gate!" She yelled up to Kisuke waiting for him to come down as she helped Ichigo stand up straight.

Ichigo furrowed his eyebrows and scratched the back of his head. "Sunshine, it isn't like I don't want to go, but…If we hollowfy to, how are we supposed to help them?" He asked mostly to himself. The orange spiky haired boy thought about it for a moment or to after asking. Then he thought about all the trouble everyone would be in even if they did keep sane. "Oh screw it! Let's go. Hurry up, Urahara-san!"

Once Kisuke was down he let out a sigh, shaking his head. "Alright, fine. But like before I can only give you a certain amount of time to go through the gate. Kurosaki-san, Melek-san," He trailed off as he began to open up the large gate that he had kept in that old training ground of his. Soon before one could tell it was ready, just like all the other times the Kurosaki's used them. "Be careful."

Ichigo just waved his hand nonchalantly. "Don't worry. We'll be fine." The chocolate brown eyed boy sighed then he dragged his sister to the front of the gate. "Ready?" He asked as he looked down at the young girl beside him.

Melek nodded keeping the smirk on her face. "Damn right…Let's go." Was all she said before the both of them ran into the gate, heading off to the Soul Society.

* * *

Alrighty! That's the chapter! I hope you like it, haha. I had a lot of fun writing this. I feel bad for poor little Arata, always getting scolded by Kazumi, haha. Gotta love those brother/sister moments, haha.

Reviews are welcome, just no flamers. Thank you.

TRANSLATIONS:

Reiatsu= Spiritual Pressure

Shinigami= Soul Reaper

Baka= Stupid/Idiot/Fool

Nee-san= Sister


	5. Chapter 5

**Disclaimer: Bleach belongs to Kubo Tite.**

****Welcome back to SCHERZO! This update definitely came a lot faster than the last one, eh? Haha, that's because things are getting exciting now, lots of fights are ahead-OOPS. Sorry I just gave spoilers. Trololo. I would like to say though, near the end of the chapter it gets a little choppy, so I apologize for that! -bows-

Reviews are always welcome, just no flamers. Thank you, and enjoy the feature presentation.

* * *

**SCHERZO Chapter 5**

It was dark and cold, as though it had been in the middle of winter, like a snow storm was blowing through. The surrounding area was mostly all black, with very small shimmers of navy blue seeping through the dark sky. At the same time it was like someone was trying to suck in the person, standing there, shivering and holding themselves, but the person didn't budge. Her body was almost transparent and her body was shaking tremendously, making it hard for her to move her body. No matter what way she looked, there was just no way out. Both ways looked the same, and it was as though she was in an empty literal abyss where no one would bother coming for her. She had never felt so cold and she wanted to get out, it was her one desire. She wanted someone to come and help her.

Her pale green eyes shot open and she sat up quickly, shifting her emerald orbs left to right, feeling rather lost. Though, that was not the case, because soon she saw her redheaded brother looking over at her with a bit of concern in his purple eyes. The ebony haired woman sighed while rubbing the back of her head, some sweat dripping off of her tanned chin. After she settled herself down, Kazumi looked back at her brother and let out another sigh. "I had the dream again." She stated while tilting her head to the side, feeling rather annoyed from it.

Arata only laughed and shook his head, a smile on his face. He had suspected as much, Kazumi had had the dream more than once a week after all. "So it seems." Arata started out, and he was about to continue until Kazumi elbowed him in the chin. The redheaded Arrancar yelped as he fell back a little bit, holding his chin, he pouted and etched his eyebrows in a childish way. "Oi…Relax…It was a joke…" The younger sibling sighed and shook his head letting go of his chin.

Kazumi stood up and brushed off the dust that was on her pure white skirt, and then she looked down at Arata who was still sitting with his legs crossed. "We're going to the Soul Society. That will take care of my dream issue." She told, though, the ebony haired girl made it seem more like it was an order rather than something that they would just do. That was something that had always irritated Arata. His sister never gave him the chance to do anything he wished to do.

After that, the redheaded Arrancar stood up and tilted his head to the side. "Whatever you say…Nee-san…" He whispered waited for his pale eyed sister to begin walking. It was something he knew for sure, that if he wanted to stay out of trouble, he always had to be a few paces behind Kazumi, no matter what the situation was. Though, when they were to get to the Soul Society, that would all change, and Arata's opportunity would be there. _Even if she sings, she won't mind me heading off to go play with someone, I'm sure about that! _The redhead thought with a faint bit of malice in his thoughts.

Once Kazumi snapped her fingers, the familiar eye shaped dark Garganta that the Arrancar's used, opened up and was ready for them to leave towards the Soul Society.

* * *

Izuru had stumbled back to the third squad barracks, feeling rather ill, as though he had some sort of disease. He felt uneasy as he saw that a lot of the squad member's rooms were destroyed from when they all turned into Hollow Reapers. The blonde man immediately began to head to his captains office, to see how the man was doing, but he stopped half way there. His legs had stopped moving, and it was as thought time was slowing down.

**BA-BUMP! **His heart beat very slowly, though it was quite loud, and it was all the icy blue eyed boy could hear. There was a long pause before the next heartbeat, and Izuru felt rather queasy, unable to pull apart the situation. He tried to move, but as his foot picked up off the ground, his heart beat again, though it was so heavy, it made his eyes hallucinate the ground beating with it. Again it happened. It kept happening until the boy found himself on the floor, shaking. It was like he was dreadfully cold and had someone stuff poison down his throat.

As quickly as it came it was gone. Though Izuru still felt like he had someone stuff poison down his throat. He slowly lifted himself on his hands and knees, and then he slowly but surely made his way to his feet. The vice-captain decided he would take it slow and easy to the office, so that he could ignore the odd pain. It was apparent to him that there must've been some kind of disease going around to make people feel ill and then turn into Hollows. Perhaps because he had run into the Hollow Reapers he would get infect, but Izuru doubted such a thing because it wasn't as though he had actually made any actual contact with them.

When he reached his captain's office, he steadily walked in and checked the couch to see if his captain was awake. And to his horror, he wasn't, but that wasn't the worst of Izuru's problems. His captain wasn't even there. He wasn't on the couch, nor nowhere to be seen in the office.

* * *

When the two Kurosaki siblings had arrived in the Soul Society, it wasn't anything like they thought it would be like. They figured it would be destroyed and in a mess, with buildings on fire and holes in the ground and people lying around injured. That wasn't the case at all. As a matter of fact the Soul Society seemed to be in pretty fine shape, buildings were still in tact, and there weren't any fires or holes in the ground. It was always a relief to know that the Soul Society was still in good shape, even with people hollowfying.

Ichigo rubbed the back of his head while he looked up at the surroundings in the Seireitei. "Well this is a relief! Now let's go and find Rukia and Renji, they could be in trouble!" Ichigo remarked while he moved his chocolate brown eyes down to Melek's darker brown ones.

With a faint nod from his little sister, the Kurosaki's began to use their flash step to search the area and to get to the Rukia's division, the thirteenth division. While they were doing this a thought crossed Melek's mind which made her sweat drop and sigh. She looked up at Ichigo and began to speak. "You know something I realized?" She questioned catching Ichigo's attention as the two continued their way, and Ichigo gave her a questioning look. "We're going to be in a lot of trouble if squad eleven gets the disease…"

Ichigo couldn't help but deadpan and feel a bit of faint panic when his sister said that. "Well, let's pray that the disease doesn't reach them!" The orange spiky haired teen said with a hidden nervous tone, along with a rather nervous chuckle. It reminded him of the time they first went to the Soul Society to save Rukia. When they had confronted Kenpachi it wasn't exactly a good outcome. They were lucky they had survived at all that day.

Melek couldn't help but give a nervous chuckle too. "Yeah let's hope…We still need to fully understand how they get the disease and what makes them hollowfy, until then we can't exactly stop it…" She sighed, a feeling of uselessness running through her body, though the brunette decided to lock that away and keep it inside her. If it was another person she was worried about hollowfying, it was her brother. After what had happened in Heuco Mundo during the winter war, where Ichigo turned into a full Hollow, it had taken him a little bit to gain control back. Well, if Ulqiuorra hadn't cut off his horn when he had, Ichigo probably wouldn't have been there. Melek decided to keep that thought locked inside her as well, not bothering to bring up the past, knowing that the present was far more important.

After a few more minutes of using their flash step, they could see in the distance a familiar figure ahead. At this Melek's eyes shimmered in a bit of happiness, just glad to know that Rukia was okay. So, bringing up the pace Melek soon began to just run towards Rukia, a smile on her face. "Oh! Rukia! I'm so glad you're okay! Ichigo and I heard that people were hollowfying at random! We came here as soon as we could an-" She spoke quickly as she ran over but then she stopped in mid-run, a horror struck look on her face.

"Huh?" Rukia asked while turning around, her face completely different from the Rukia the Kurosaki's knew. She had a wide smirk on her face, her eyes were black and gold and she had the tone of malice and distortion in her voice as she said this while turning.

As Melek's eyes widened Ichigo quickly caught up and pulled Melek back while saying, "Get back! Get back!" He gestured his younger sister behind his arm, while making some space between the hollowfied Rukia and themselves. Ichigo had the look of worry and concern, yet seriousness in his expression. "Rukia…" The orange haired substitute started out slowly, in a gentle way to try and relax the girl.

Rukia remained silent, and her expression remained the same, her smirk was still there and her eyes were still coal black and shiny gold. She was calm and nonchalant but the way her reiatsu felt, it was as though if someone were to say the wrong thing, she would snap and go in for the kill.

The younger Kurosaki shook her head and began to step forward, ignoring her brother's protests. "Rukia, don't you remember me?" The brunette asked with a soft tone, trying to relax while her eyes narrowed. She tried to keep her expression soft, and serious, though she found it hard to because she was scared for the little vice-captain. "Remember how we first met? Remember when we saved you?" The brunette asked, her voice turning a little more uncertain as Rukia only continued to remain silent. "Remember what happened in our world and in Hueco Mundo?! Remember when you gave us our powers back?!" The substitute asked with a hint of despair in her voice, as she only wanted her friend to snap out of the Hollow's control. "RUKIA!"

Rukia's smirk only grew wider at this, and she placed her hand on her maroon coloured zanpakuto's hilt. Without saying anything she withdrew it harshly. "Mai! Sode no Shirayuki!" The ebony haired girl exclaimed, letting her pure white beautiful zanpakuto release. Then she began to stab it in the ground, causing white snow to filter from the slits she made. She then raised her sword up and pointed it at the Kurosaki's. "Tsugi no Mai! Hakuren!"

As the burst of ice began to come towards the two, Ichigo quickly grabbed his sister's arm and used his flash step to get out of the area entirely. Before the two of them knew they were away from Rukia and in a seemingly safer place. Ichigo placed his sister down and glared at the ground in anger.

Melek scowled to herself, feeling a bit ashamed of not being able to get to the Soul Society in time to help Rukia. Though the question was, how did she get infected? Kisuke had said that Rukia and Renji hadn't been affected by the Arrancar. So how was it possible? Melek sighed and leaned against her brother, catching him by surprise, but nevertheless, the older teen wrapped his arm around her and sighed. The orange haired teen too felt as though it was his fault for not arriving quickly enough to help Rukia.

* * *

"ARATA WHAT DID YOU DO!?" Kazumi yelled in anger while she grabbed her brother's t-shirt collar while pulling him down to her level. Arata was confused and absolutely shocked by his older sister's actions, and he felt a little bit intimidated by her. "WHY ARE THEY HERE?!" She yelled again which caused Arata to wince and furrow his eyebrows. "You DID do something to them didn't you?!"

Arata slapped his sister's hand off of him and moved back a bit while he crossed his arms. "Stop blaming me for everything! I didn't do anything! Leave me alone!" The redhead snapped while he turned around. This surprised Kazumi, her brother never yelled back at her, he usually gave up that fight, and when he didn't this time, the green eyed girl felt rather confused. Before she could retort, Arata used his sonido to get out of the area entirely.

After he left, Kazumi felt as though the woes of the world was on her shoulders. That outburst Arata had given her was something she was definitely not used to, and she felt as though, that maybe, she had gone a little too far. Kazumi was the older one and she was supposed to look after her younger brother, it was a promise they had made.

"_Oi! Oi! Back off! Leave him alone!" A short ebony haired girl with shoulder length hair yelled while she ran over and elbowed two kids in the face, which caused them to whimper and whine about. The girl had emerald green eyes and when she stomped her foot the children ran away crying for their parents. _

_After that she turned and looked down at a boy with red flaming hair who was sitting on his bottom while rubbing his bruises that the other kids had given him. "Thanks, nee-san…" He whispered while he stood up with a sigh. _

_Kazumi, who was wearing a sky blue dress smiled and gave him a thumbs up. "No problem, Arata-nii-san! I'm glad you're okay." She sighed with relief. Kids had always bullied Arata because of his bright red hair. They didn't like different but the redhead gave them different, without meaning to._

_Arata frowned and rubbed the back of his head. "I'm sorry you have to come and help me all the time…I'm not a good brother am I?" He asked feeling ashamed of himself for always having his sister come to his rescue whenever he was in trouble. Arata felt as though, since he was the boy, he had to do the protecting._

_A loud laugh came from Kazumi who was rubbing away the tears from her eyes from laughing so hard. "Hahaa! Oh, nii-san! I will always protect you! Through thick and thin. Even if someone is trying to kill you. I will always protect you." She smiled and patted her younger brother's head with sympathy._

After re-seeing that in her head, Kazumi frowned and began to use her sonido to find her brother, wanting to apologize for being so rude to him.

* * *

Rukia was looking around her with a rather wide smirk on her face, and she couldn't help but laugh in amusement at the sight. There were many injured Shinigami all around her, and one of them was quivering in front of her with wide and unsure and scared eyes. He had no idea what was wrong with the lieutenant, and it was obvious he was too much of a rookie to do anything to stop his lieutenant. Rukia's smirk grew as a psychotic laugh escaped her lips, and she swung down her pure white zanpakuto. Though to her surprise, no blood was on her blade, instead her blade met with someone else's.

"Rukia, that's enough!" When Rukia looked up after hearing the voice, her eyes narrowed but her smirk remained. It was Renji who had stopped her, and it made it all the more interesting for Rukia. Not waiting for Rukia to make another move, Renji pushed Rukia back, though made sure he was gentle and he made some space between them.

Rukia, with swift movements rested her thin zanpakuto on her shoulder, her gold eyes shifting to the left. "Renji! What a pleasure!" She exclaimed with a very unserious look on her face, she was nonchalant, and her voice hinted that she was being sarcastic and cocky.

Renji frowned and his tattooed eyebrows furrowed themselves while his brown eyes narrowed. "Rukia…" He whispered, he wanted her to get back to normal, but the redheaded man just didn't know what to do. He didn't want to fight her, but fighting her was probably the only way, that way he could buy Rukia sometime so she could try to win the fight against the Hollow inside her soul. The man closed his eyes then he raised his sword. "Now Howl…Zabimaru!" He yelled releasing his zanpakuto, swinging it in the air round and round.

* * *

The two Kurosaki's had decided to split up and as soon as they went in their own direction. As if on cue, the familiar redheaded Arrancar showed up and jumped down on the ground, meeting up with Ichigo. When Ichigo saw him, he immediately withdrew his Zangetsu and got into a defensive stance. Though, unlike last time, the Arrancar seemed a little bit more serious and he had an almost hurt expression on his face.

Wasting no time, Arata withdrew his own zanpakuto and charged at Ichigo with the same speed he had in the human world. His moves seemed different to Ichigo this time as well, they seemed heavier and harsher, with an actual intent to kill. Arata hadn't a real expression on his face; he just seemed to be putting on a poker face. Like he was hiding something.

Hiding his true emotion's or not, Ichigo pushed harder on the older boy's blade and then he jumped up and went to cut down the man's shoulder, but Arata was quick, and he blocked the attack with his blue hilted sword. Ichigo decided that then was a good time to begin questioning him. "Oi! You have to know! What's happening, why are people turning into Hollows?!" Ichigo demanded while the two of them pushed on each other's blades, trying to intimidate each other.

The redheaded Arranar jumped back from Ichigo making good distances between the two of them. "I don't know what you're talking about. Talk to my sister for answers." He responded with a harsh tone in his voice, it grew harsher though when he had mentioned his sister. _Lying isn't exactly a strong suit of mine…But the Kurosaki's seem gullible. _The purple eyed man thought to himself.

Ichigo narrowed his chocolate brown eyes in annoyance and he charged at Arata while swinging his oversized trench-knife like zanpakuto. "Don't give me that crap!" The orange spiky haired teenager yelled as Arata pressed his smaller sword against Ichigo's, his own purple eyes narrowing. "You have to know!" He shouted and as he backed up, he raised his sword and quickly sent a Getsuga Tenshou at the enemy.

Placing his slightly tanned hands out in front of him, the Arrancar formed up a small yellow cero and then fired the attack to counter Ichigo's Getsuga Tenshou. Without bothering to respond back to Ichigo, Arata ran at him and the two of them clashed their swords again. Once again, Arata was treating Ichigo like a new toy and taking his time 'playing' with him, rather than taking the fight seriously. Ichigo had raised his zanpakuto up to make a cut to Arata's side, but the white dressed man was quick and he placed his sword to his side to protect it, then he sent a harsh kick to Ichigo's stomach, kicking the boy back a few ways.

Ichigo sat up and placed his hands on the ground while glaring at Arata, an anime vein popping up and down on his forehead. "You little…!" With that he charged at his enemy again and the two of them clashed their swords.

* * *

The lieutenants of squad three, five, and nine all gathered together in concerns of their captains. With all that was happening, it was hard to tell whether they had gotten the disease too. But what was more important was that they were all gone. Captain Hirako, Captain Kensei, Captain Rose, they were all gone, and none of the lieutenants had any idea of where they had gone, so they gathered together to discuss it.

Throughout the discussion they had all explained how their captains began to feel uneasy and so they had settled down for a nap. When the lieutenants had left the rooms, it was like they had purposefully planned on leaving. Though, none of the lieutenants could tell for sure, and it left them in a little bit of distress. Especially Momo, having a lot of captain issues with Aizen being a betrayer and trying to kill her, then trying to kill all of Soul Society, she felt the fear that possibly Shinji would do the same too. Deep in her heart, she knew that Shinji was good. It still made her worry though.

After the discussion was over, the lieutenants decided that they would all search the entire Soul Society to try and find their captains, even if the squads were hollowfying. Their first priority was their captains after all. It was their jobs as lieutenants, and after what happened with the betrayal of their previous captains, it was only the right thing to do.

* * *

"We should be alright here…" The captain of squad five remarked while he leaned against one of the large boulders that was in the underground area. It was his idea that they should all go back to the underground place that Urahara had built so long ago.

Rose let out a sigh as he crossed his arms. "Yes, you're right, Shinji. This was a fine idea. This way, we can't hollowfy, and hurt our comrades." The blonde tall man agreed while he looked over at the captain. Then he looked towards the grey haired man, the one who had more pride then to go into hiding over such a thing.

At this, Kensei scoffed and rolled his eyes in annoyance while his muscular arms crossed over his chest. "Fine, whatever. But if things get back, it'll be worth the risk to go out there and help, even if we have a good chance of hollowfying." With that they all nodded and it was clear that it was the best idea for the moment that they stayed where they were, so they wouldn't risk killing their comrades if they were to hollowfy.

* * *

And that's SCHERZO chapter 5! Haha, like I said the part with the lieutenants and Vizards at the end is a little choppy, that's because I figured I should stop at the Ichigo vs Arata fight, but I wanted to add in the stuff with the Vizards in this chapter to get it out of the way, haha.

Speaking of the Ichigo vs Arata fight, I like how I'm making it almost like a siblings rivalry fight, ehehe xD Also, just so you all know, the italics in the part where Kazumi is yelling at Arata, that's a flashback, but I'm sure all of you know that, haha.

**TRANSLATIONS:**

**Shinigami= Soul Reaper**

**Reiatsu= Spiritual Pressure**

**Nii-san= Brother**

**Nee-san= Sister**

**Oi= Hey**

**Mai= Dance**


	6. Chapter 6

**Disclaimer: Bleach belongs to Kubo Tite.**

Welcome back to Scherzo! Sorry for the long wait, been having a lonnngggg rough time lately, trololo. But it's all good. Ahh, this chapter is intense near the end, ehehe, I like it. I love intense suspenseful things, don't you? ;D

Reviews are welcome, just no flamers. Thank you and enjoy the feature presentation.

* * *

**SCHERZO chapter 6**

One sword swung after another, every time their swords clashed it was like time was slowing down, or one or the other's movements were becoming slower. It was bewildering to the orange haired Kurosaki as his moves seemed to be getting slower, even though he knew he was striking with his usual speed. The redhead Arrancar didn't even bother slowing down from his swings, his movements must have gotten faster. However, even if his moves may have gotten slower, Ichigo ended up cutting Arata in a few places, such as his shoulder blade and his chest. Arata had gotten more cuts on the teenager though; Ichigo's face had a few thin cuts on it when the Arrancar's sword swiped past him, along with the orange haired teen's chest.

Arata backed up and he began to charge up his signature yellow cero, his eyes and most of his body, along with Ichigo's, had a faint yellow tinge on their bodies when he began to charge his attack. Before the Arrancar got the chance to fire Ichigo, Ichigo called out the name of his own attack, and he fired his Getsuga Tenshou right for Arata's hands.

The redhead widened his purple eyes in shock and before the Getsuga Tenshou reached his hands he fired his small cero, and it made a small explosion when the two attacks collided with each other, causing smoke to spread out on the battlefield.

Ichigo wasted no time charging through the smoke, swinging his over sized, trench-knife like Zanpakuto towards Arata. Arata scowled and his eyes narrowed as he swung his sword down, countering Ichigo's attack. The two of them then found themselves trying to push one or the other back to make some distance for another attack. Ichigo glided his sword off of the purple eyed man's Zanpakuto and slashed him across his chest, causing the redhead to cough up a little bit of blood. Ichigo went for another attack, his confidence coming back, seeing as how his movements were coming back to him. Before he could slash Arata again, the Arrancar disappeared behind the orange haired boy, and he made a cut down the teen's back.

Ichigo quickly turned around while he swung his sword but his attack was countered once more. His signature scowl entered his features and he pushed Arata back while he too made some distance between them. "Ugh! What the hell?!" He finally snapped while he glared at the Arrancar before him.

"What the hell what? What's the matter with you?" Arata asked nonchalantly as he scratched the back of his head, a sweat drop forming there. His tone was almost comical when he asked and he didn't look very serious when he questioned the teenager before him.

Ichigo stomped his foot as a vein began to pop up and down from his forehead, a very annoyed look on his face. "You! You're not taking this seriously, I can tell by your movements!" The boy snapped as his chocolate brown eyes narrowed themselves. "Don't tell me you're like Kenpachi and just love to fight for the hell of it!"

The purple eyed older man blinked in confusion, a bit confused by Ichigo's outburst, and the fact that he was being compared to Zaraki Kenpachi. He didn't know whether to take it as a compliment or an insult. So he just let out a sigh as he turned his head to the side. "I don't fight because I love to. I do take fights seriously, too. But it has to be against someone strong." Arata answered as he looked down at the orange haired teen who looked twice as confused now. "In other words…A fight against a Kurosaki is more like a game rather than something to be taken seriously. Now if I were to fight against a captain or lieutenant it would be a different story."

Ichigo was greatly offended when he heard that, and he glared at the Arrancar while his eyebrows furrowed. "Kisama…" He cursed as his teeth gritted themselves. The orange haired teen took no time to charge at the man before him again, but when he went to make his attack, Arata used his Sonido and was behind him, making an attack. Ichigo quickly turned around and clashed his sword with Arata's causing sparks to fly off.

Arata let out a sigh, though it wasn't a nonchalant sigh, it was more like an annoyed sigh. He jumped back and kicked the side of Ichigo's head, causing the teenager to skid on the ground, making a long streak in the ground. Ichigo groaned while he began to prop himself up, but before he even got the chance to do anything, he felt a hard and heavy feeling in his stomach. He groaned loudly as he skidded back some more and he coughed up a little bit of blood as he began to prop himself up again. Like before Ichigo didn't get the chance to, because Arata had planted his foot in his back, pinning him down.

"Don't try to make this serious, Kurosaki." The redhead muttered, his calm tone changing into a tone that had much more of a serious tone, along with malice. "If I could kill you right now, I would. Kazumi-nee-san would be very angry with me if I were to do that though. So be grateful, you little brat."

The orange haired teen cursed as he persistently tried to prop himself up on his hands and knees, which seemed easier than expected, but that was only because Arata was gone, like a hummingbird, he was soundless as he left. Ichigo stood up and gripped his sword tighter; looking around to see if the Arrancar was hiding. However that was not the case, the case was that Arata had actually left.

"Damn bastard…"

* * *

Retsu Unohana-taichou shook her head as she looked down at the white haired, much shorter captain that was in her office. She smiled sweetly as her blue eyes met Toshiro's. "Don't worry, Hitsugaya-taichou. You're fine. Nothing seems to be wrong with you." She concluded as she placed a thermometer on the counter.

Toshiro's teal eyes narrowed as his white snow eyebrows furrowed themselves. "Something about this isn't right though…" The squad ten captain mumbled in annoyance and frustration. He had almost forgotten his lieutenant, and he felt a throb in his head for quite awhile. How could there not be anything wrong?

Toshiro stood up and nodded, turning around. "Alright. Thank you." The white haired boy said simply, and then he began to walk out of the squad four barracks. Toshiro constantly hoped to himself that he wasn't getting the Hollow disease that other random people were getting. _That disease just came out of nowhere too…How are we supposed to figure out what's causing it? _He scowled to himself.

"Aww! What a cute little boy!" Chimed a rather unfamiliar voice. Though, Toshiro didn't care if he recognized it or not, he already felt a vein popping up and down on his forehead. He turned around and he blinked at what he saw. It was a girl, but anyone would be able to guess that. She had black hair, almost as black as a crow's feather; her bangs were split in the middle, except there was a large fringe that covered most of the left side of her face. She had pale green eyes and slightly tanned skin. What confused Toshiro was that she was wearing a white long dress with long sleeves that had a black stripe that ran from the shoulder down to the cup where her wrists remained out. Her shoes were odd too; she had musical notes on them that were black.

Toshiro couldn't feel her reiatsu at all, he could tell right away that she was hiding it and he immediately figured that this girl before him was an Arrancar. He didn't take any actions other than placing his hand on his sword's hilt, glaring at the taller girl. "Who are you?" He demanded calmly.

"I am Kazumi! It's a pleasure to meet such a cutie!" Kazumi chimed again while her hands held themselves. She had sparkles in her eyes as she kept eyeing the captain. "I am-" She shrieked as she was cut off, Toshiro was annoyed, and he let his annoyance get to the better of him and he went to attack the Arrancar. Kazumi backed up and she opened her mouth quickly, she began to sing.

Toshiro paused in mid-run; his teal eyes widened themselves as the song began to echo in his head repeatedly. Over and over again. His head dropped and his shoulders slumped. He stared at the ground, then he looked up again, his features were different then before. His once teal eyes were now golden and his sclera was coal black, he also had a smirk on his face.

Kazumi smiled as she walked over to the small boy. She ran her head through his snow white hair and gawked. "So soft!" She exclaimed in awe.

Toshiro moved back a bit and he put his sword back into his sheathe. "Thank you, master!" He exclaimed with a distorted voice. When he did, Kazumi could tell that she was going to have a fun time with this Hollow.

* * *

"Renji. What did you do?" Byakuya demanded calmly, taking note of his sister in the redhead's arms. Renji chuckled nervously and held tightly onto the small pale girl in his arms. "I'm waiting."

Renji once again laughed sheepishly and then cleared his throat. "Well…She had hollowfied, I suppose she got the disease and somehow hollowfied so I hadn't really a choice but to knock her out!" He exclaimed quickly, his tone nervous as he closed his eyes tightly. It was against his moral to ever hit a woman unless absolutely necessary, and this time it was necessary.

Byakuya eyes narrowed and he gave a faint glare with his grey eyes. "Renji…" He began but was cut off by a voice he hadn't expected to hear, considering he figured that it was dangerous for her to be in the Soul Society. He also found the brown haired Kurosaki's lack of respect disturbing.

"Oh, Byakuya. Back off, give him a break." Melek spoke up as she placed her hands on her hips, her eyes hiding concern with a nonchalant look. "I would've had to attack her too if Honey hadn't taken me away." The brunette continued on. "You should be thankful that Renji snapped her out of it."

The tall ebony haired man narrowed his eyes and his black eyebrows furrowed. "Kurosaki Melek. It's reckless for you to be here. With the Hollow disease going around." He countered his voice calm and hiding his annoyance with the teenager.

Melek rolled her eyes and began to walk past Byakuya, dragging Renji along by the back of his collar, heading for the squad four barracks. "Doesn't matter, reckless or not." She said, and she started saying other things but her voice quieted out as she and Renji continued their way to the infirmary.

When Renji and Melek were out of Byakuya's distance, Melek looked up at the tattooed man and narrowed her eyes. "Be thankful I was there to save your ass." The brunette sighed as she crossed her arms over her chest, a somewhat annoyed look on her face. Renji sweat dropped and almost glared at the Kurosaki female.

* * *

"Damn it…Where did that crazy sister of mine run off to?" Ichigo asked himself while he looked around as he walked through random areas in the Seireitei. He was still a bit sore from the fight he had with Arata, but his wounds weren't major and he had them cleaned and bandaged, so he was good to be patrolling and looking around.

Ichigo flinched and his eyebrow twitched when he began to near the squad eleven barracks. He slowly began to walk backwards to make sure he didn't go anywhere closer to the area, not wanting to get involved with any of the crazy men in that squad. _I doubt she went there…_The orange spiky haired teen thought to himself with a nervous expression on his face.

Ichigo sighed in relief when he found an easy way to get around the squad eleven barracks. He managed to find an old abandoned passage way that he presumed that no one had used in years. The teenager still felt a bit nervous though going through an old passage way that was near the squad eleven barracks, for all he knew, the squad members went there to train secretly. On the other hand he also felt nervous about the fact that members from the Stealth Force would be there, waiting for an enemy attack, and he would be that enemy.

_Damn it…I think I should have just stayed in bed…_Ichigo thought to himself his shoulders slumping as he sweat dropped. If only his life was that easy, unfortunately it wasn't. He wanted to rush through the area, but at the same time if the Stealth Force was there he wouldn't want to trigger off one of those creepy traps they might have set up. He also didn't want to rush through so he wouldn't make much noise, in case there was squad eleven members close by.

It was a long and eerie sort of passage, not much light shone through the area except for where the exits were. It was almost like an invisible cloud was hanging overhead. It almost reminded Ichigo of one of those movies where something would be waiting for the person at the exit, but movies didn't frighten Ichigo when it came to movies versus reality.

It didn't take too long until he finally reached the exist and he let out a sigh of relief once again, being thankful that he made it out without making contact with anyone he didn't want to. He looked back down the dark long passage to take it in and remember it just in case if he needed a place to hide. As Ichigo turned around to continue his way, he found himself frozen. Reiatsu, a very strong and heavy and far too familiar reiatsu began vibrating throughout the whole area, causing the ground to shake. The orange spiky haired teen's eyes widened and he felt sweat drip from his forehead down to his cheek and off his chin. He slowly turned around, his chocolate coloured eyes still wide.

The last person Ichigo wanted to see, he saw. He began to back away from the much taller man, finding it hard to considering Kenpachi hadn't let up on his reiatsu. It was darker then before though, which concerned Ichigo. It was just like a Hollow's. He took note of his black and gold eyes, and the overly large smirk on Kenpachi's face. So much for not being afraid of movies versus reality. Ichigo laughed nervously and raised his pale hands which became paler.

"Ke-Kenpachi…I think that maybe you should go to the squad four barracks…" The orange haired teen started out nervously, finding himself backed up against a wall.

"Ichigo! You have no idea how long I've been waiting to fight you again!" Kenpachi yelled, his already creepy and rough voice, becoming twice as creepy considering it was now distorted, and his reiatsu was also much stronger too, considering it was mixed with a Hollow's, and his own. Kenpachi didn't wait to withdraw his sword, the blade shined in the sun and its ragged blade almost looked taunting to Ichigo. Kenpachi backed up only a little bit and then he swung his sword down and as he did you could see reiatsu clinging and drifting off the blade.

"NO KENPACHI!" Ichigo practically screamed as he quickly raised Zangetsu to block the attack, and as he did, there was a large and heavy explosion of reiatsu.

* * *

Practically everyone in the Soul Society widened their eyes at the large explosion of reiatsu that blew out through the Seireitei. Shinigami who were outside saw that large buildings had been taken down from such an explosion. The Shinigami in barracks or who were farther away mostly only felt the explosion, and the shockwave that had come soon after the explosion.

Some of the weaker Shinigami had actually fallen from the aftermath from the explosion as well, which left them dumbfounded considering they had no idea where or what it was coming from. After all it wasn't every day that an explosion suddenly erupted in the Serietei.

Other Shinigami were seemingly nonchalant, such as members from squad eleven and twelve, also squad one, because those squads figured it was either Hollow Reapers or a higher up from squad eleven. Though, those in squad eleven clearly knew that it was their captain, or they figured it would be, if not then Ikkaku or Yumichika, some of the higher ups.

Even some souls in the Rukon District felt the aftermath of the large explosion, and most of the weaker souls past out from the shock wave and the heaviness from the large and sudden outburst.

Kazumi also widened her eyes, not sure of what or who that could have possibly been. The only person she knew who was that strong was the Head Captain, but she also knew that she could never affect him with her song. She had no idea who else it could be and the Hollow Captain she was with looked a little bit surprised as well, but he seemed to know who he was.

Across the Serietei, in the fourth squad barracks Renji's brown eyes were wide, and he looked out the window to see that there was still a large bright glow from where the explosion occurred and he, once being in squad eleven knew that it was his former captain. The last person that the redhead wanted to see fighting and he couldn't help but feel sorry for the person who had encountered him. It was hard to tell who did though, because whoever's reiatsu it was, was easily blocked out with the captain's.

In the squad five barracks Momo's eyes were wide and she felt sweat drip off of her chin as she lowered herself on her knees, the shock wave making her legs feel numb. Quickly, the brunette beside her, Alev, one of Momo's closest friends lowered herself and helped the small fragile girl stand up. Alev found it hard to distinguish whose reiatsu it could have been aside from Kenpachi's, clearly she felt his and it was the other person's who she couldn't feel.

Arata, who was taking a nice peaceful nap on one of the rooftop's opened his purple eyes wide when he was practically blown off the roof from the explosion. He was quick though and he hung onto the edge and pulled himself up. It was definitely something he wasn't expecting, and it caught him by surprise. But he recognized the reiatsu to be Zaraki Kenpachi's, the captain that Ichigo had mentioned earlier. Like most of everyone else he couldn't feel who else was with Kenpachi, so he figured it was one of his squad members.

* * *

"Have you found anything out about the disease going around the Seireitei, Boss?" Tessai, one of Kisuke's friends asked as he watched the man with the striped bucket hat typing on his computer, trying to diagnose whatever the disease was. Urahara didn't stop typing as he looked up at the much taller man who was wearing glasses and an Urahara Shop uniform and apron.

"No, not yet, Tessei-san." The messy haired blonde answered before he looked at his computer screen, his hazel eyes narrowing as he continued trying to diagnose it. "I think the only true way to find out is to try and either do some tests on the Arrancar, or do a test or two on someone who has the disease." He explained with a sigh of frustration.

Yoruichi walked in the room at that moment, she had just finished tying her long purple hair in her signature pony-tail after coming out of her coal black cat form. "Should I go to the Soul Society and retrieve someone for you, Kisuke?" She asked while her golden eyes moved down to her best friend's eyes. With the situation being like it was in the Soul Society she could just snag one of the lower rank members of any squad who was hollowfied and bring them to Urahara. It would be the easiest way, she figured.

Urahara simply waved his hand nonchalantly, too focused to move his eyes away from his screen. "No. No. That won't be necessary, Yoruichi." The former captain of squad twelve began as he studied the new page that popped up on the screen. "I'm sure I can find away to figure out through here…If not, then I'll have to get you to do that…"

The tanned woman gave a nod, a rather amused smile on her face. "Alright, fine. Have it your way. But I guarantee that you won't be able to find anything out that way!" She exclaimed with a teasing tone, getting a dry chuckle from her friend.

"Ha! Do you remember what squad I was in?" Urahara countered in amusement as he only continued to do his research, deciding to see if he could find any kind of information of the two Arrancar.

* * *

The large bright light from the huge explosion was still up in the air, as though the explosion was still rumbling, which in a sense it had been but it was more settled, aside from light shockwaves that kept coming. Those soon died out but the shock from the large explosion was still there in many people's eyes and thoughts. The brunette Kurosaki couldn't feel the other person's reiatsu like everyone else; she only felt Kenpachi's crazy reiatsu that still crazily flourished throughout the entire Seireitei. Melek couldn't help but widen her eyes at the thought of her brother actually being on the other end of that explosion. Unable to hold in her emotions of worry and despair for her brother, whom she had no idea where he was, she let out a scream that echoed out throughout the canopy of the Soul Society.

"ICHIGO!"

* * *

And that's the chapter!

Not one of my best cliffhangers but I like it, haha. I told you it got intense near the end. I feel bad for poor Ichigo Dx Irony. Gotta love it. After all in the last chapter the two Kurosaki's discussed how bad it would be if members from squad eleven would hollowfy, and then BAM. It happens. Trololo, wouldn't you puke? xD

So I also decided that after the large explosion I would show you guys what Shinigami spectators are feeling when it blew so you get an idea of how powerful it was and whatnot. Plus I like doing reactions to explosions like that, and other things, muahaha :D

I had a lot of fun writing this chapter, it was just...Fun. Hehe.

Reviews are welcome, just no flamers. Thank you.

**TRANSLATIONS:**

**Nee-san= Sister**

**Kisama= Bastard**

**Taichou= Captain**

**Reiatsu= Spiritual Pressure  
**

**Shinigami= Soul Reaper**

**Canopy(For those of you who don't know)= Sky (In this case that is, it could also mean tree tops, or a tent)**


	7. Chapter 7

**Disclaimer: Bleach belongs to Kubo Tite.**

****Whooo! I had so much fun writing this! :D I started working on it a few minutes after I uploaded chapter six. It was so much fun to write, though I feel bad for Ichigo T_T...Haha, that's why this update was so fast! Well faster than my previous ones xD :3

Reviews are welcome, just no flamers. Thank you and enjoy the feature presentation.

* * *

**SCHREZO chapter 7**

It felt like the air was blown right out of him, like someone had pulled his heart out and stomped on it a billion times. It was like he had lung cancer or something of the sort, making him unable to breath. He was pained and he couldn't catch his bearings very well. The orange haired teen hardly even had a single clue as to what had happened to him. He was cornered, which he remembered. Then Kenpachi went to attack him and everything went wrong after that. It was almost like being in Hell, being suffocated by polluted air.

Something he didn't realize that he had been flown back quite a way away from Kenpachi after their attacks met, and he found himself lying in rubble, still trying to breathe properly. The orange haired teen had fought Kenpachi before, but now that the captain was hollowfied he was twice as strong, Ichigo almost felt like an ant to him, and after all, it's hard to step on ants without crushing them.

Ichigo shook his head and he slowly sat up, his vision becoming clear again, and his body had strength in it again, though he still felt nauseated and dizzy. That didn't stop him from standing up slowly to see a bloodlust Kenpachi walking towards him. The young teenager felt some blood drip off his chin, he didn't even realize he had a wound on his head, but he didn't let that distract him. The chocolate brown eyed boy raised his Zangetsu and got into a defensive stance, his eyes narrowing. He wouldn't risk charging at a crazed man like Kenpachi, he would just wait for him to get him.

The crazy hollowfied man let out a long and psychotic laugh as he used his flash step to appear in front of Ichigo. He didn't take long to swing his ragged sword down, but luckily, Ichigo countered the attack as he slammed Zangetsu against Kenpachi's blade. The force of Kenpachi's sword was much stronger than it had been before, considering he had his Hollow awakened now, it made things twice as harder for the teenager.

Ichigo jumped back a little bit and he raised his sword. "Getsuga Tenshou!" He yelled, firing the large white beam from the tip of his Zanpakuto. When the attack neared the squad eleven captain, he swung his sword down splitting the Getsuga in half. "Wh-What the hell?" Ichigo scowled to himself, not quite expecting the large man to easily destroy his signature attack.

Kenpachi ran towards Ichigo, his sword shining brightly in the sun. When he was within half a sword's length of Ichigo he swiped his sword to the boy's hip, effectively cutting him, causing Ichigo to cough up some blood. The teenager didn't give up though and he made an attack towards Kenpachi's chest, cutting him, but unfortunately it wasn't deep enough for him to stop the ebony haired man's next attack. Kenpachi implanted his foot in Ichigo's stomach, sending the orange spiky haired teen back a couple meters.

Ichigo cursed to himself as he pushed off some rubble that was on him from the building he had crashed into. He wasted no time standing up and getting ready for Kenpachi to come at him again. If it was one thing for sure, he had to take this fight carefully. _Dammit…What do I do? I can't defeat a lunatic like this…_The orange haired teen thought to himself while he narrowed his brown eyes.

Ichigo scowled as he went back on the words he promised himself and he charged at Kenpachi, swinging his large sword to the man's side, but Kenpachi had easily blocked the attack as though it was just child's play. Kenpachi easily pushed Ichigo back again and he quickly swung down his sword, sending it deeply into Ichigo's shoulder, causing the boy to widen his eyes and cringe in pain from the sudden heavy attack. The orange haired teen cursed to himself again and he put one hand on Kenpachi's now bloody blade. The much taller man smirked as he kicked Ichigo's stomach, getting his blade lose from him.

"Release your Bankai! Kurosaki Ichigo!" The hollowfied Kenpachi demanded as he swiped the blood off of his shining ragged blade. "You know that if you don't, you will die."

Ichigo backed up a little bit and raised Zangetsu into a defensive stance, quiet pants leaving his lips. He put on an arrogant smile and shook his head. "Heh, hell no. I don't need my Bankai to beat you, I didn't before!" He yelled as he ran towards Kenpachi again, he made a thrust with his sword and it impaled the crazy man's stomach, but not as deeply as the orange spiky haired teen had hoped it would. He blinked as he felt his feet lifting the ground.

Ichigo looked down and he quickly realized that he was off the ground and at least a few feet upwards. When he looked up again he was face to face with Kenpachi. No cocky smirk, arrogant line, or any kind of bravado could hide his fear of the man standing before him. A man who enjoyed fighting so much that he was willing to die in battle and willing gruesomely kill his opponent.

"Here I was thinking you're a warrior. Look at that fear in your face! Pathetic coward!" Kenpachi's distorted voice exclaimed in disgust, his gold and black eye that wasn't covered by his eye patch narrowed, and he was frowning, clearly un-amused by Kurosaki's reaction.

The orange haired teen couldn't manage anything aside from shaky breaths that came from his semi-opened lips. Ichigo refused to go Bankai and now Kenpachi was going to kill him like a sheep to slaughter. Any other occasion, the brown eyed boy would have went on Kenpachi's request to go Bankai, but with the Hollow disease going around, he was afraid it would trigger off his Hollow.

The next thing the Kurosaki knew he was thrown once again, and was slammed into another building. "Crap…" Ichigo muttered sourly as he stood up slowly again, he looked at his bloody hands that were holding onto his Zanpakuto's hilt. "Crap…Crap!" He repeated in frustration, he placed his hand on his pale arm and he pointed Zangetsu forward. "BANKAI!"

Kenpachi smirked and he laughed psychotically as he ran towards the transformed Ichigo. "That's more like it, Ichigo!" He yelled as he made a thrust towards the smaller boy.

Ichigo glared and scowled at the frenzied Kenpachi, and as his attack was going towards him, Ichigo quickly blocked with his ebony long and thin blade. The chocolate brown eyed boy then began to attack the taller captain with the help of his Bankai's speed, aiming for the man's chest repeatedly, over and over again, and of all the attempts he made towards the chest, he only ended up nicking him because Kenpachi had blocked most of his attacks. "Getsuga Tenshou!" Ichigo yelled firing his coal black attack towards Kenpachi while making some distance between the two.

The messy haired man grinned with excitement, clearly satisfied now that Ichigo wasn't going to give up the fight. The gold and black eyed man made a side step to dodge the attack, but the Getsuga grazed his arm a little bit, tearing his sleeve off. Blood dripped off his arm and down his fingers, which made him extra excited. He lifted his hand and licked some of the blood on his hand. "That's more like it…" He hissed distortedly before he charged at Ichigo again.

He couldn't help but feel a little disturbed by Kenpachi's actions, but he expected nothing less from a hollowfied and already crazy man. The brown eyed boy disappeared from Kenpachi's sight and was no behind him, his black blade swinging down, only to be countered with Kenpachi's silver one. Ichigo's sword was bounced off of Kenpachi's, and the squad eleven captain made quick actions, effectively cutting the boy's side deeply, blood gushing out from his waist.

Coughing up blood, Ichigo glared at Kenpachi and he swung his sword through the older man's shoulder. He then swiped his blade out through the ebony haired man's shoulder. Even though he knew it would do no good, Ichigo kicked Kenpachi's stomach and jumped back, making some distance between the two of them.

* * *

Byakuya looked up from his paperwork, his grey coloured eyes staring out the window. He, like everyone else could feel heavy and large bursts of reiatsu going throughout the Soul Society. The ebony haired man stacked up his paperwork and then placed them down neatly and calmly on his mahogany desk. His lieutenant eyed him in confusion, wondering why he had stopped so suddenly.

"Taichou?" The redhead man asked as he watched his captain's movements closely. He had known the Kuchiki for quite awhile, not nearly as long as he knew Rukia, but he still felt like he knew him well enough to know when something was on his mind.

The nobleman stood up and he took his rectangular papers with him. "I have somewhere to go." He responded simply, handing Renji the stack of papers he had in his hands. "Take these to squad one's barracks." Byakuya ordered calmly as he began to leave the squad six office, his grey eyes closing.

"Y-Yes sir?" Renji sighed still confused as to where his captain was going and why. After all it wasn't everyday that he entrusted Renji with his paperwork, and just left the office like he was determined about something. "Weird guy…" He mumbled under his breath, clearly still trying to figure out what was happening.

* * *

It had only been five more minutes before Ichigo's Bankai shihakusho was torn a little bit, his right arm sleeve having a long tear in it, as though someone had ripped it to try to be a jerk, and the exes that held his shihakusho closed were torn open, and his chest was bare, minus the white yukata that remained. He was exhausted and tired but he didn't give up, by this time he got more wounds on Kenpachi that he expected to get on him in his hollowfied state. Though, the squad eleven was persistent and the wounds Ichigo had given him weren't very deep, so Kenpachi still had plenty of stamina and energy left in him.

Kenpachi swiped off blood from his blade again, resting said object on his shoulder, his head turning to the side as he let out an annoyed huff. "I thought your Bankai was stronger than this." He muttered as his golden iris rolled in annoyance. He mostly had wounds on his arms and his stomach and chest, but barely any of them were deep enough to slow him down.

Ichigo glared at Kenpachi and he charged at him again, though this time he wrapped a Getsuga around Tensa Zangetsu's blade and he impaled Kenpachi through his chest. "Getsuga!" He was cut off as he felt a large fist thrust to the side of his face and he was sent skidding on his side down the road. He slowly stood up and pointed his blade back at Kenpachi. "Tenshou!" The spiky haired substitute yelled firing the attack. Like before Kenpachi side stepped, but the attack cut his side, and it made blood gush from it.

Kenpachi smirked as he ran towards Ichigo, and as he did Ichigo go into a stance quickly. The two of them clashed their swords together and because of that another explosion of reiatsu blew out, however it wasn't nearly as strong as the one before, this one was lighter and Ichigo could withstand its low strength. Kenpachi lowered his sword and stabbed Ichigo's abdomen, in return Ichigo coughed up blood but while he did he swung his blade through Kenpachi's chest.

"Getsuga Tenshou!" Ichigo shouted whilst he glided his blade down to Kenpachi's waist and through his side, causing a ray of blood to gush from the ebony haired man's chest and side simultaneously while his Getsuga released. Ichigo didn't intend on killing the captain, so he figured if he fired the attack while swinging his sword out of his body it wouldn't blown him up, or make him lose any body parts.

Kenpachi coughed up a little bit of blood and he made some distance between them. He wiped the blood off of his chin, and he still had a wide smirk on his face. "Yes! More like that, Ichigo!" He yelled once again, getting a bit excited. He would always get excited when his opponent actually managed to cut him deeply, and at with what Ichigo had just done he would slow down a little bit, making it a little more even for Ichigo. Though the captain wouldn't hold back even if he was a little bit slower, after all, he still had many tricks up his sleeve.

After a few seconds of staring at each other and watching each other's movements, they found themselves up close to each other, their thin and completely different swords clashing harshly with each other. Bright sparks flew off their blades and reiatsu was hanging off of Kenpachi's sword like threads stuck on a tree branch while there was a hurricane.

Ichigo felt a little lost in this fight and he seemed a little bit distracted as he slashed Kenpachi's shoulder, and in return Kenpachi swiped his blade to Ichigo's face, but Ichigo side stepped, getting a thin cut on his cheek, but the blood quickly began to drip down his chin. The orange haired boy didn't want to kill the captain and he definitely wanted the fight to end, mostly for his own wellbeing. However, the boy knew that the only way Kenpachi would ever give up is if Ichigo were to effectively knock him unconscious, or kill him. Both seemed practically impossible to Ichigo at this stage.

A sigh came from Kenpachi's lips, and his expression read annoyance again. "Well, the only way to make you fight seriously may be this…" Ichigo didn't even need Kenpachi to finish his sentence, because actions spoke alone. Kenpachi was moving his hand up to his eye patch, no hesitation in his movements. He had a large and sadistic smirk on his face as his gold and black eye watched Ichigo.

"K…Kenpachi! No!" Ichigo yelled raising his sword, getting ready to charge at the violent man to make him stop his actions. "No!" The boy snapped again, causing it to echo quietly throughout the canopy of Soul Society. It had been too late though and with a loud laugh, Kenpachi ripped off his black eye patch.

As though time was slowing down, Ichigo could see nothing but the overly large burst of reiatsu slowly leaving Kenpachi's body and coming towards him, like a venomous snake going in to kill its prey. Then, time flashed and he didn't realize that he was pulled onto his hands and knees, as though he was draped in heavy chains, and someone was trying to drag him down to Hell. He found it hard to breathe as well, the reiatsu was so tainted, and it was like breathing in poison.

Panting, the chocolate brown eyed boy slowly managed to stand up, his body shaking from the tainted and disgusting reiatsu that Kenpachi released. _Damn it all…He didn't need to release all his pressure!_ The young boy thought to himself, his eyebrow furrowing themselves. He had bags under his eyes and he looked like he had just woken up from a forever long sleep. His whole body was sore, and he couldn't breathe properly because of the crazy reiatsu that Kenpachi had released.

Kenpachi gave a look of warning towards Ichigo, a look of 'Get ready or you'll die.' look. So Ichigo shakily lifted his arms and implanted his feet in the ground to try and make himself stable. He got his Tensa Zangetsu into a defensive stance; there was no way in hell that the orange haired teen would charge at Kenpachi now, not after he had released his eye patch. Ichigo may have been reckless at the best of times, but he knew when to be careful and he also knew his limits.

Kenpachi ran at Ichigo again and the boy quickly went to swing Tensa Zangetsu, but found himself stopping mid-swing because of an odd feeling that came to his stomach. His chocolate brown eyes widened and his orange eyebrows furrowed. Ichigo slowly moved his orbs down to his stomach. Kenpachi's large hand was impaled through his abdomen and his stomach had blood pouring out of it, almost like there was a large whole there. He felt dizzy and uneasy at the sight of Kenpachi's hand through his stomach; Ichigo didn't know how to react to it considering it happened so suddenly. He couldn't even see it coming.

Ichigo's eyes began to blur and he felt his body shaking and becoming limp, and he had to blink to make sure he wouldn't close his eyes permanently. "K…Kuso…" He muttered his voice barely audible. _It hurts…Everything feels so numb…_He thought silently. His hands shook lightly and he made an attempt to swing his Bankai sword at Kenpachi, which he had but he didn't cut the squad eleven captain very deep, he simply grazed his shoulder.

Kenpachi huffed as he withdrew his hand from Ichigo's stomach, which made the blood pour faster from him, and then to make it worse for the young boy, the hollowfied man kicked Ichigo's side, sending him skidding down the road once more. He continued to walk towards Ichigo after that, muttering to himself how he thought Ichigo would be able to take that and that he thought Ichigo would be able to continue.

Ichigo frowned as his chocolate eyes looked upwards, watching as Kenpachi continued to walk to him. If Kenpachi hadn't had the extra insane power of his Inner Hollow, he might've actually stood a legit chance. If running away would have been an option he would have done that too, considering that he never wanted to fight the crazy man in the first place. He always avoided Kenpachi at the best of times. The pale teen would have this time too if he was given the opportunity, but he was backed up against the wall before he got the chance. Now, he was a mess and didn't stance a chance against such a crazy man. Ichigo almost felt ashamed of himself, being so easily taken down and mocked from Kenpachi. The chocolate brown eyed weakened man cursed to himself again, if he could just find some strength to lift himself upwards he would fight back, even if it wouldn't be affective.

_I just…Have to get up for a few more minutes…_Ichigo tried to demand himself as he clenched his fists, trying to lift himself, falling down on his chest again, scowling. _Just a few more minutes…Please body…_He tried to demand again, though it was almost like a plead for himself, just for his pride's stake. His arms shook as he tried again, but he didn't give up and he lifted himself on his hands and knees, and he did his best to ignore the excruciating pain that came from his wounds.

Kenpachi was only a few feet away from him now, and he had stopped, watching the orange spiky haired substitute Shinigami before him. "Get up, Ichigo." He ordered coldly, his distorted voice ringing through Ichigo's ears. Ichigo was still only on his hands and knees when he said this, and his body still shook. "I said get up!" Kenpachi snapped again, louder this time and more demanding.

_Come on…Just for a minute…One minute is all I need…_Ichigo continued to try and he sat up on his knees, his hand instinctively moving to his stomach to try and stop the rushing blood. Ichigo then used the semi-destroyed wall for support, and he managed to stand up in a slouch, but it was better a slouch then nothing at all. Ichigo raised his sword and tried to stop his shaking body. "G…Get…Getsuga…" He began, the attack forming on the tip of his blade. At this Kenpachi quickly began to run towards Ichigo, a wide smirk on his face as he went to swing his sword. "Tenshou!" Ichigo yelled firing the attack the instant Kenpachi's blade almost went through his shoulder.

The only thing Ichigo saw after that was a large black and white flash. He could also only feel his body getting more numb and sore. There was also a large cloud of grey smoke that drifted around the area, that covered most of everything, and it obscured Ichigo's vision from when he could see again, even if he couldn't see well at all in the first place. The orange spiky haired boy felt his body on the cold cement but he also felt a little warm, but that was only from the blood coming from his wounds though.

Ichigo's vision became blurrier by the second and he found it hard to keep his eyes opened widely so he narrowed them a little bit, his eyebrows etching up a little bit. He couldn't hear anything and he could only feel his body and the blood. Suddenly, there was someone's foot in front of him, but Ichigo's vision was so blurry the most he saw was the black from the hakama and a blur of white.

_Who's there?…_

Ichigo thought he had said that aloud, however that wasn't the case, he only ended up asking himself that mentally. He tried to move his exhausted brown eyes up towards the person, but he couldn't bring himself to even do that. Within seconds the boy only saw black and with that, Ichigo had lost all consciousness.

* * *

And that's the chapter! :D Like I said I had a hell of a lot of fun writing it! I really did, and that's because most of the chapter is dedicated to Ichigo vs Hollow!Kenpachi, not fun for Ichigo T_T But epic to write. Hehe, things are getting intense, the way I like it~

Reviews are welcome, just no flamers. Thank you.

**TRANSLATIONS:**

**Shinigami= Soul Reaper**

**Reiatsu= Spiritual Pressure**

**Taichou= Captain**

**Kuso= Sh*t**


	8. Chapter 8

**Disclaimer: Bleach belongs to Kubo Tite.**

Welcome back once again! Hehe, I've been updating fast, haven't I? ;) I do my best to. Ahhh I had fun writing this chapter, but now I'm really excited about upcoming chapters too! Hehe.

Reviews are welcome, just no flamers. Thank you, and enjoy the feature presentation.

* * *

**SCHERZO chapter 8**

Yumichika and Melek stood a few feet apart from each other, by this point; Melek had already withdrawn her sword, quickly getting into a stance. The hollowfied Yumichika however, didn't move or make any kind of actions, aside from flipping his hair and crossing his arms afterwards, staring his gold and black eyes down to the much younger female before him. The brunette hadn't exactly expected Yumichika to draw his sword right away, but she did figure that since he was hollowfied now, he would be more willing and much more violent. So the fact that the man did nothing was astonishing to her.

After staring at each other for a few minutes, Melek lowered her sword and gave the fifth seat a confused look. "Not that I care…But why haven't you attacked me yet? You're a Hollow and I'm a Shinigami…Shouldn't you be…?" The pale girl asked as she carefully eyed the man before him.

The ebony haired man scoffed and once again flipped his hair at that. "Please. It is beyond me to attack such a beautiful girl." He remarked as his crossed over his chest again, his gold and black eyes looking down at Melek's dark brown ones.

Melek sweat dropped and sighed, she could feel a vein forming on her forehead. "Have you ever seen a girl you _didn't_ think was beautiful, Yumichika?" She sarcastically asked, rolling her eyes. After all, Yumichika was always ranting about how beautiful things were, and how he found a lot of people, men or woman to be beautiful. There were also exceptions though where he thinks one is ugly from his own personal preference.

"Shut up! That is beyond the point! You're a girl, I'm a guy it's wrong to attack a girl!" His distorted voice exclaimed in annoyance, a vein forming on his forehead as well. Even though he was hollowfied, he still seemed to be like the same old Yumichika that everyone knew to be a pretty boy. It confused Melek a little bit, because Hollow's are supposed to be the opposite of their vessels, but in some cases she supposed it wasn't exactly true. It was just what she was used to.

"Well don't let that stop you." Melek felt a little bit offended that the pretty boy wouldn't attack her just because she was a girl. There would be times in her own world that some men would try to 'help' her because she was carrying groceries that were supposedly too heavy for a girl to carry. She always got annoyed with people like that. Being a girl doesn't mean she couldn't do simple things. Especially with the life she and her brother held.

Yumichika sighed and he mumbled something under his breath, as he did he withdrew his Zanpakuto. With a rather elegant battle cry, the ebony haired man charged towards the substitute Shinigami, swinging his blade. While he was in good length, Melek clashed sword's with him, causing sparks to fly off their differently sized blades.

Melek pushed the older man back and as she swung her sword to the side, getting ready to prepare her Suta Senko attack, she stopped as she felt herself leaving the ground. She blinked in confusion and looked over her shoulder to see the bald third seat of squad eleven. "I-Ikakku?! What the hell are ya doing?" She snapped in annoyance, glaring at him. Ikkaku simply huffed and spat off to the side, and then he suddenly threw the brunette off to the side, causing the pale girl to yelp in surprise.

Ikkaku took out his own sword and faced his prettier half, smirking. He seemed to be normal, with no Hollow reiatsu or even gold and black eyes. "Let's fight, Yumichika! It's been awhile since we have!" He yelled with excitement, clearly okay with the fact that his best friend was hollowfied.

From off to the side Melek scowled as she sat up. "Oi! Bastard, what the hell was that for?! I was going to kick his ass until you came along!" The brunette called out to Ikkaku, a vein popping up and down on her forehead as she stood up, still having a good hold of her Zanpakuto. She was going to go over then stopped as she noticed something in Ikkaku's eyes. It was a look of determination, but he also looked excited. Melek understood after she watched the two of them clash their swords. If there was anyone who could snap Yumichika out of it, it was Ikkaku.

With that, Melek began to run off to continue her search for her brother. She had enough confidence in Ikkaku for him to take care of the ebony haired opponent. While Melek was running she was hoping that Ichigo was alright and out of dangers way, she also hoped that it wasn't him that was in that explosion, but her intuition told her that it was a very good possibility.

* * *

A quiet and soft moan escaped his somewhat opened lips, and his eyes slowly began to open, but there was a bright light so he quickly closed them and moaned again. He was exhausted and he didn't really remember much of what had happened to him. All he really remembered was that he was trying to find his sister and then he ran into Kenpachi, it was all a blur after that.

Ichigo drowsily placed a hand above his eyes and he began to open them again, since his eyes were shadowed by his hand the bright light above him wouldn't bother him like it had when he tried to open his eyes the first time. The orange spiky haired teen's vision began to clear out as he looked around the room, which he recognized to be the squad four barracks. The question was who brought him there? The chocolate brown eyed substitute shook his head at the thought, and he slowly sat up, the white blanket on his body shifting as he did so.

He groaned quietly as he placed his hand down on his lap. He still had a little bit of a headache and his whole body felt stiff and tired. Ichigo sighed and he felt too warm so he removed the blanket from his body and hung his legs over the side of the bed, getting ready to go search for his sister again.

"Where the hell do you think you're going?" The familiar redhead man asked, this caught Ichigo's attention and he looked over his shoulder at the door to see one of his best friend's there, Renji. Ichigo stood up thanks to the support of the side of the bed and he looked up at Renji.

"Are you the one who brought me here?" Ichigo asked and then he placed his hand gently on his neck, his eyes widening a little bit. He could have sworn that was his voice, but it sounded hoarse and scratchy, making it hard to understand him; his voice was also very quiet as well, making it hard to hear. The orange haired boy placed his hand off his throat and he looked back at Renji, waiting for his answer.

Renji shook his head and sighed. "No, I wasn't the one who brought you. That shouldn't matter though; clearly you're still out of it and need to rest a little longer, numbskull." The brown eyed lieutenant remarked as he pointed his hand at Ichigo, who looked at him stubbornly, clearly refusing to even sit down.

After staring each other down for a few seconds, Ichigo sighed hoarsely and he sat down on the edge of the bed, still facing Renji. "Then who did bring me here?" He asked, trying to ignore his voice. It sounded odd to him, it being scratchy and hoarse; it wasn't like his voice at all, though he suspected that since he fought Kenpachi it was only natural. After all, when Kenpachi released his reiatsu it was like poison, so maybe that was it.

"I have a feeling who…It isn't for certain though…" Renji trailed off as he began to remember something that happened a few hours ago.

_Byakuya looked up from his paperwork, his grey coloured eyes staring out the window. He, like everyone else could feel heavy and large bursts of reiatsu going throughout the Soul Society. The ebony haired man stacked up his paperwork and then placed them down neatly and calmly on his mahogany desk. His lieutenant eyed him in confusion, wondering why he had stopped so suddenly. _

"_Taichou?__"__ The redhead man asked as he watched his captain__'__s movements closely. He had known the Kuchiki for quite awhile, not nearly as long as he knew Rukia, but he still felt like he knew him well enough to know when something was on his mind. _

_The nobleman stood up and he took his rectangular papers with him. __"__I have somewhere to go.__"__ He responded simply, handing Renji the stack of papers he had in his hands. __"__Take these to squad one__'__s barracks.__"__ Byakuya ordered calmly as he began to leave the squad six office, his grey eyes closing. _

"_Y-Yes sir?__"__ Renji sighed still confused as to where his captain was going and why. After all it wasn__'__t everyday that he entrusted Renji with his paperwork, and just left the office like he was determined about something. __"__Weird guy__…"__ He mumbled under his breath, clearly still trying to figure out what was happening._

Renji snapped his fingers and gave a faint nod as he looked down at the human. "It was Kuchiki-taichou, I think. He left the office a few hours ago saying he needed somewhere to go. I didn't see him after that." He explained as he smirked a little bit, clearly amused by the fact that Byakuya went to save Ichigo from crazy Kenpachi; he was also amused because he could see the embarrassment in Ichigo's face.

Ichigo opened and closed his hand then sighed, trying to hide his embarrassment. "That explains why his reiatsu is on me…But I didn't need his help, I was handling Kenpachi fine!" He snapped, mostly to himself, but half of what he yelled was trailed out because of his raspy voice, which he sweat dropped at. Ichigo scowled when Renji began laughing his head off, saying things like 'Oh yeah right!' and 'If so, then why do you have those terrible wounds?' clearly, he was far too amused by the situation.

The orange spiky haired teen stood up and looked around for his Zangetsu, finding it leaning against the wall across his bed, and when Ichigo went towards it, Renji stopped laughing and looked at him seriously. "What are you doing? You still need to rest, dumbass."

Ichigo scowled as he looked over his shoulder at Renji, almost glaring at him with his chocolate brown eyes. He placed his Zanpakuto on his back and looked up at Renji with crossed arms. "Idiot! My sister is still out there, I have to go find her!"

* * *

Kazumi still had Toshiro, well the hollowfied Toshiro hanging around her, he had followed her like a puppy to his master. The ebony haired taller girl was amused by this, and it had made her happy that she had someone like a little pet. She found it cute and innocent. The green eyed Arrancar was also amused because she hadn't anyone around her so much before, even if she did make them hollowfy, she was a little surprised that this Hollow stayed with her, but she was happy.

"Kazum-" It was her brother's voice, she recognized it anywhere, but he stopped himself when he saw a Shinigami captain with her. Arata jumped off of the rooftop he was on and met up with Kazumi and the captain, who he looked down at in confusion. "Nee-san…Who is this?" He asked, with a weird tone in his voice, it was almost like he was demanding his older sister to tell him, and he sounded a little bit solemn.

Toshiro blinked and he placed his hand on his sword's hilt, getting protective of his new found master, and he began to growl at Arata. He stopped though, when Kazumi placed a hand to his chest, to show him that it was okay, and that there was no need to worry about Arata. "This, is Hitsugaya Toshiro, he's like my little puppy! He's been following me around for awhile!" Kazumi explained with a nod and big smile.

Arata crossed his arms and sighed harshly, looking away from the snowy white haired boy. "Alright alright. But what are you doing out in plain sight? People can see you and then what?" He asked as he moved his purple eyes down to his older sister, his red eyebrow rising a little bit.

Kazumi rolled her green orbs. "Please, don't take me for a fool. I can just sing, awaken their Hollow, and I'm fine. Besides, I haven't been in plain sight, I've always kept hidden, not only that but I haven't let my reiatsu slip at all!" She exclaimed as she gave a nod, feeling offended that her brother thought that what she was doing was reckless and stupid. Then she remembered something that she was going to do, she lightly pushed Toshiro towards her brother and turned around, looking over her shoulder. "Take care of him, I have somewhere to go!" She said and with that she used her Sonido to get out of there.

* * *

Renji and Ichigo had to be sneaky when leaving the squad four sickbay. After all it seemed like more and more members from the squads were turning into Hollow Reapers, and if Ichigo's theory was right, then they could cause other normal Shinigami to hollowfy, and that was the last thing the two boys wanted to deal with.

The two of them had to sneak and hide around corners and the more they did, the more tedious things got, and the more impatient Ichigo got. If he had it his way, rather than having it Renji's way, he would have just charged out and attacked the Hollow Reapers to make an opening, that way they could at least be able to walk out in less shadowy places. Ichigo was still a little shaken up when he exited that passage way and run into Kenpachi.

Renji signalled Ichigo that it was okay for him to make a crossing and so Ichigo quickly did so, staggering a little bit over his own feet. It hadn't been long since they got out of the infirmary and his legs were still stiff along with his other body parts, he needed a bit of time for them to get relaxed again and a little more stable before he could do any serious running, and yet, he still wanted to attack the Hollow Reapers to make an larger opening.

When Renji went to look around the corner from another alley way they were in, Ichigo rolled his chocolate brown eyes as his arms crossed over his chest. He walked up to Renji and tapped his shoulder, causing the redhead to look over at him. "This is stupid!" He whispered in annoyance, glaring faintly at Renji.

Renji rolled his own brown eyes as his tattooed brows furrowed. "_This_ isn't nearly as stupid as _your _idea. You want to just barge out of nowhere and attack those Hollows, and then what? It would cause way too much attention, not only that but your wounds still aren't fully recovered yet, you can reopen them at any given moment, and _that_ Ichigo, is stupid." Renji countered as he looked around the corner again.

When Renji ran off to another safe area, Ichigo followed quickly behind him, still not liking the idea of the whole thing. All he wanted, was to make sure his little sister was alright and sane. He was always bad at feeling reiatsu so he couldn't sense where she was very well, but he could still feel her presence. Since there was a lot of other Hollow's around though, it was hard to tell if one of them was her. It was all so frustrating to the boy.

"Dammit…Alright, we'll keep doing it your way, but can we hurry?" Ichigo snapped quietly as Renji looked down at him.

The moment Ichigo mentioned hurrying, Renji got a brilliant idea. "Ichigo, you just solved our problem." The lieutenant remarked as he grinned, he got a confused look from the young boy, so Renji continued. "We can use the sewers, I know where an opening is, and we'll be safe down there. I'm sure squad four leaves maps down there for themselves so we can use that!"

Ichigo smiled for once and he gave a faint nod of agreement to this, getting a little bit excited. "Renji, you're a genius!"

* * *

It had only been at least an hour or two if not longer, since Melek began her search for her brother and along the way she saw many Hollow Reapers walking around and infecting, well it seemed like infecting, other innocent Shinigami, turning them into Hollow Reapers. It was all a wonder to the brunette as to how they did it, how was it possible that they could infect the others?

Melek didn't recall ever actually knowing about how it all started, how the Hollow disease was going around, all she knew was that it had to do with the two Arrancar that she and Ichigo had encountered in their world. Kisuke didn't give them any sort of idea on how they were doing it either, so they went to the Soul Society to find out for themselves, and since they went it had been nothing but a large hassle.

The one thing she had noticed was that it was mostly lower rank members thus far that had been hollowfying. Sure there was Rukia that she ran into, and from the explosion Kenpachi was too, but she didn't remember seeing any other lieutenant's hollowfied or hollowfying. Or captains either, aside from Kenpachi. If things would keep up in that way, than it would be easier to figure things out. So she hoped.

_Dammit…I just wish I could find Ichigo already, where the hell could he have gone? It's just one place! _Melek thought to herself in annoyance, and then thought about it again. It was the Soul Society and the Soul Society was pretty big, it would be easy to get lost that's for sure. If she could just sense reiatsu a little bit better she would be able to tell where Ichigo was.

With that thought in mind Melek began to run through a dark alleyway, hiding from up coming Hollow Reapers. Thankfully though the Hollow Reapers didn't notice and went on their way.

_Thud!_

Melek yelped as she and another person fell to the ground when they collided with each other. The brunette rubbed the side of her head and then quickly stood up withdrawing her sword and getting in a stance. The person who had fallen over looked rather familiar, he had black spiky haired scars and tattoos. There was no doubt about it, it was Hisagi. Since his eyes were closed she couldn't tell if he was one of the Hollow Reapers so she backed up and got ready.

Shuhei stood up and scowled as he looked down at the brunette, his eyes were thankfully normal, and he seemed satisfied to run into someone who wasn't a Hollow Reaper. "Well, looks like you're still normal." Shuhei commented with a nod, and Melek sighed with relief while she placed her Jitsugetsu back onto her back. "But what are you doing here, you know about the disease right?"

Melek simply nodded. "Of course I know about it. That's why I'm here." She explained with a sigh, she crossed her arms and smiled faintly. "I'm glad you aren't a Hollow Reaper."

Shuhei nodded as well, seemingly relieved. "Believe me so am I. Those things have been chasing me for awhile now, I'm lucky I made a fast turn." The ebony haired man remarked as he turned around, beginning to walk away. "I've been looking for Kira. Seen him?" He asked, and Melek quickly followed after him, dying for a companion.

"No, unfortunately not…Have you seen my brother?" She asked while she shook her head, walking side by side with Shuhei. He wasn't one of her closest friends, but he was nice enough and they respected each other. It was also nice having someone around after being alone for God knows how long.

Shuhei shook his head and stopped suddenly, as did Melek, wanting to stay in pace with him. "I can sense Hollows coming; let's get up on the rooftops." He said it wasn't exactly a request either; it was more like an order. So after the squad nine lieutenant jumped up on the rooftop, Melek followed shortly afterwards.

When they were up there they found out that the Hollow Reapers that Shuhei were sensing were coming from the roof. Shuhei cursed to himself and he lightly pushed Melek's back, as a signal for her to turn around and go on the other roof to start running. Not wanting to get infected Melek took her friend's signal and turned around, she jumped from the edge of the rooftop they were on to the one beside them, Shuhei followed soon after and simultaneously the two of them began running on either side of the roof.

The Hollow Reapers had been following closely behind them; it wasn't as though they could catch up to the two Shinigami like a rocket catching up to its target. They were still a good few paces behind, they Shuhei and Melek hadn't really much to worry about unless they were to somehow get caught by them, and like before that was the last thing that they wanted.

Suddenly, there was an explosion from under the roof they were on, though it wasn't any regular explosion it was more like someone raising their reiatsu and because of that it blew through the roof. There was smoke and rubble going everywhere and there was no choice but to jump on a different rooftop. So Melek turned and landed on the one on the left and continued to run, knowing that the Hollow Reapers were right on their tail. Melek looked over her shoulder to see if Shuhei was alright and with her, but to her dismay he wasn't, so she stopped suddenly and looked over her shoulder.

"Hisagi! Hisagi!?" Melek called out ignoring the on coming, angry and hungry Hollow Reapers. "Dammit!" The brunette couldn't wait for a response, so she quickly turned and began to run down the rooftop that she was on, and she was hoping that Shuhei hadn't gotten caught by Hollow Reapers that went in his direction.

As she was running the end of the rooftop was coming and the beginning of one was on the way. Quickly Melek jumped from the one she was on to the next one and she continued her way. That's where things suddenly went wrong. She felt a thud and it almost echoed in her head. She had a throbbing feeling in her head and the back of her head felt a little bit warm. The pale girl moved her hand to the back of her head and it felt all wet and soft, when she moved her hand to in front of her eyes that began to blur, she frowned. Her hand was covered in blood and there was glass surrounding her, and she felt dizzy and uneasy, she had no idea what had happened. But the next thing she knew she only saw darkness.

* * *

When Melek opened her eyes again, she found herself in her sideways Inner World forest. The thing that surprised her was that the presence of her Hollow was gone, the only other person aside from herself that was there, was her Zanpakuto Jitsugetsu. Melek walked over to the person she regularly referred to as 'Grandma' or 'Ol' Jitsu' and she looked up at her.

"Where's Kuro, Grandma?" The brunette asked while she tilted her head to the side in curiosity, after all it wasn't everyday that Kuro wasn't there, well as far as she knew, lately she had been all quiet and it was hard to tell what the hell the pure white girl was doing.

Jitsugetsu looked down at her Shinigami partner, with a poker face. "She's visiting Shiro." The other brunette responded with a nod, and then she crossed her arms. "That's why I summoned you here." She explained, her pale eyes looking quite serious, which Melek easily noticed.

"Well, why? What's she doing that's so bad?" Melek questioned while she lightly tilted her head to the side, kind of confused about what Jitsugetsu had been talking about.

Jitsugetsu sighed and then went to explain. "You see. Kuro has been visiting Shiro a lot lately. She and him have been planning things out for whenever that song comes back." She started out and Melek gave her a confused look, she had no idea what 'song' her Zanpakuto was talking about, but she was curious nevertheless. "You remember you were in school when you heard a weird song, it was quiet but it was there, in the wind." She went on and Melek understood and she gave a faint nod.

"Alright and…?"

"They've been plotting on how they're going to get you and Ichigo out of control. They're planning on using that…Infectious song to try and take control over your bodies. Do you understand?" Jitsugetsu asked, immediately noting the distressed look that Melek had.

Melek looked around her Inner World blinking frantically as she did so and then she looked back up at Jitsugetsu, looking a bit sorrowful and distressed. "B-But…If-If I…If I get infected then I won't be able to…" Her shaking and distressed voice trailed out, and her body was shaking. Jitsugetsu nodded understandingly and before Melek could do anything else, she once again only saw darkness.

* * *

And that's the chapter!

Like I said I had fun writing this, especially the little scene with Jitsu and Melek, shows Melek's distress on the situation hehe. As for Izuru...Well we'll find out what's happening to him later on, trololo. :3 No spoilers.

Reviews are welcome, just no flamers. Thank you.

**TRANSLATIONS:**

**Nee-san= Sister**

**Shinigami= Soul Reaper**

**Reiatsu= Spiritual Pressure**

**Taichou= Captain**


	9. Chapter 9

**Disclaimer: Bleach belongs to Kubo Tite.**

****Welcome back! OMG, I had **so** much fun doing this chapter! I don't know why...I was wanting to get to this scene for so long and I'm glad I finally got there! :D Oh yes...I had lots of fun...:3

Reviews are welcome, just no flamers. Thank you and enjoy the feature presentation.

* * *

**SCHERZO chapter 9**

Warmth. That's the one thing she could distinguish. Her whole body was warm and rather comfortable, it felt nice and relaxing. When she opened her eyes the first thing she took note of was that everything was white, it wasn't too bright, thankfully, just a lot of white. She immediately recognized the place she was in to be the squad four sickbay. She was lying on a bed with white sheets and white blankets on top of her, and pillows were under her head.

There was something she couldn't ignore though, and that was the fact that she had no idea who had brought her there. She remembered running and having her head hit, or something of the sort, then she remembered falling unconscious. When she looked around herself, she was a little bit confused. There were at least half a dozen if not more pillows surrounding her in a half circle. It was odd, because the beds in the sickbay usually only had one pillow for one person, maybe the person who had brought Melek there was being generous and took some pillows from other beds. The brunette also took note of the fact that she was underneath many heavy blankets, it made her warm, but it was hard for her to move her legs. She then realized that three beds had been pushed together so that she could stretch out, and no part of her body would hang over the edge. It certainly was comfortable.

"Are you awake?" It sounded like a girl's voice, a soft voice. When Melek moved her dark eyes to the end of her bed, she saw a large stack of mattresses, at least five or more. On top of the mattresses sat a woman, she looked to be in her late teen's if not early twenties, she had crow black hair, slightly tanned skin and green eyes. She was wearing a white jacket and a short skirt; her shoes had musical notes on them.

For some odd reason, Melek felt as though she had seen this girl somewhere, she just couldn't put her finger on it. The voice sounded familiar and so did her appearance, but she figured that it was just her imagination. The brunette took note that the girl barely even paid attention to her when she had looked up, the other girl was just looking off in a different direction, to a window.

It wasn't too long until the ebony haired girl moved her head down, her green eyes soft and she had a smile on her face. "Hello. What's your name, girl?" She asked quietly, her voice calm and soft; she seemed to be friendly enough, considering she had just met Melek.

Melek lightly tilted her head to the side, her tired eyes looking a bit confused. Her head was still a little bit sore and her head was spinning a little bit. "…Me?" The substitute Shinigami asked softly, her voice quiet and shy, but loud enough for the other person to hear her.

The slightly tanned girl kept her smile and she chuckled quietly in her throat. "Of course you. No one else is here, silly." She remarked her voice remaining calm and friendly.

Melek felt a little embarrassed and awkward for asking but then she sighed very quietly. "Uh…Kurosaki Melek…" Melek responded with a faint nod. She didn't exactly want to trust this stranger right away, but would giving her name really hurt her? She figured not, and so she didn't worry about it too much.

The other girl chuckled once again, her eyes closed and she tilted her head to the sigh, laughing quietly. "Hehe…Funny sounding name!" The green eyed seemingly older female remarked, clearly a little bit amused.

Melek felt a tiny bit offended by that, after all it was just a name, what was so funny sounding about it? She sighed and went on to ask the stranger's name. "Oh really? Then what's your name?"

Once again, the girl laughed, but this time she looked smug and her green eyes looked down to Melek's dark ones. "I was smart enough to choose my own name, thankfully. It's Kazumi!" The stranger, known as Kazumi chimed with her voice cheery as she introduced herself, then she jumped down from her little tower and landed on the floor of the sickbay.

"Kazumi…" Melek repeated, for some odd reason that name sounded familiar to her, but like before she couldn't place her finger on it. Nevertheless she went on to ask her question, kind of curious about something. "Did you save me?" The brunette asked while her eyebrow rose a little bit. If she hadn't saved her, then it must have been someone else and Kazumi must have randomly come by to 'baby-sit'. Kazumi turned to her and raised her own eyebrow.

"Saved you from what?" The ebony haired girl asked as she placed her hands on the edge of the bed, a little confused as to what her acquaintance was talking about.

Melek sighed and she once again tilted her head to the side. She wanted to try to sit up, but she couldn't find the strength to do so, not only that but she was terribly comfortable where she was, minus the fact that the blankets may have been too heavy. "I hit my head…Outside…" She explained as she eyed Kazumi curiously.

"Oh that. Darling, I wouldn't call that saving. I thought you were simply taking a nap in the middle of the street. However you didn't look very comfortable so I took you here. I mean, when I saw the blood I realized it was more serious then I thought it was." Kazumi explained with a nod as she walked over to the side of the bed, looking down at Melek a curious look in her eyes, she took note of the raised eyebrow Melek had and so she went to ask something that was on her mind. "What were you doing anyway?"

"I was…" She trailed off trying to remember what had happened. She remembered being with Hisagi and running from Hollow Reapers. _I was running…But I was also…_The brunette blinked as she remembered what she had been doing. "I was looking for someone. Have you seen a boy anywhere?"

The green eyed girl raised her eyebrow and she looked a bit confused. "A boy?" She asked her tone sounding not only confused but almost nonchalant as well. Melek sweat dropped at the question, after all she had just answered Kazumi's question.

"Yeah. I'm looking for a boy." The pale girl repeated as she moved her dark brown eyes up to Kazumi's pale green ones.

At that, Kazumi raised her hands up and she had a smile on her face, her eyebrows raised making them arch up like a rainbow and her eyes closed. She began to laugh. "Aren't we all?" She asked, seemingly amused by what Melek had said, but Melek didn't seem to be amused at all.

This was no time to be joking around, Melek wanted to know if she had seem him. "I'm serious! Please…Have you seen a boy with orange spiky hair?" The brunette asked again, her voice lowering and sounding a bit solemn. She was still worried about her brother and still had no idea if he was okay or not, it was troubling her for a long time now. All she really wanted was to see her brother. That's all.

Kazumi sighed and but she kept her smile, her eyes still closed but her dark thin eyebrows lowered, she had stopped laughing. "No, I haven't seen any boys around here with orange hair. I'm sorry." The tanned girl remarked calmly as she opened her eyes, looking down at Melek, she adjusted her collar and quickly took note of the worry she had in her dark brown eyes.

During the time that she and Melek were talking that was still the only thing on her mind. Where could have Ichigo been? How hard was it to find someone with bright orange hair? She figured one wouldn't know his reiatsu if they never met him before, but orange hair would be the hint as to who she was looking for. She also couldn't shake off the weird feeling she had in her chest about Kazumi. Since the brunette couldn't continue worrying about Kazumi and why she felt the way she did, she put it to the back of her head.

Kazumi had leaned over the edge of the bed to look at Melek. "Hm…Does your head hurt still?" She questioned, and Melek answered nonchalantly, not wanting to admit that it still was hurting a bit. "Would you like water?" The ebony haired woman asked, and Melek looked a bit grateful when she heard that and she responded with a 'please'. Kazumi nodded and with a flash she was gone to the other side of the room, to a sink.

Melek couldn't tell what Kazumi was doing, but she trusted her enough to not put poison in the water, after all she knew there wasn't any poison in the sickbay. She had to find Ichigo though. Until she did she wouldn't waste a second sleeping, eating or otherwise. When she was strong enough to move, she decided that she would go and search again. She had to find Ichigo, not only for her sake but for other people's sake as well, and she didn't want to waste much more time.

As soon as Kazumi left she was back, and she was to Melek's side, her hand holding a grey cup filled with water. The ebony haired girl asked if Melek could sit up, but when the brunette tried to, she effectively failed, so Kazumi helped her sit up. She held her shoulder and then the ebony haired girl put the cup to her acquaintances lips and all Melek really had to do was drink the water, it felt nice on the pale girl's throat and it helped bring up her mood a little bit.

Melek sighed after that and watched as the stranger placed the cup down on the nightstand. The brunette then looked down at her knees hidden under the covers and sighed quietly. If her legs weren't so numb she would be able to start getting on the move, but she found it a little hard to.

The thing that caught Melek's attention was a growl, it was soft but it was there. It was a Hollow Reaper and it had been staring right at Melek with gold and black eyes. Melek gasped quietly and she quickly scrambled back. If the blankets hadn't been so heavy her movements would have been faster, and she wouldn't have been so slow. Melek went to go for her Zanpakuto out of instinct to protect herself, but it wasn't there. She should have figured that. She couldn't lie in a bed with a large sword on her back that would be dangerous. So where was it then? It wouldn't matter though; she couldn't attack a Hollow Reaper. They were innocent.

The Hollow Reaper remained staring at the girl, not moving an inch. Kazumi must have still been in the room. So why didn't she react to it, the Hollow Reaper was right there. Melek looked to the foot of the bed to see the green eyed girl standing there, barely even paying attention to the Hollow Reaper. The Hollow Reaper took a step forward and then Kazumi began to speak. "Alright, go away. You don't need to be here. Go." She ordered it like it was a dog or some other kind of loyal animal, it was odd.

The Hollow Reaper stared at the ebony haired girl for a moment. Then it began to go away, its back was turned to the two of the girls and with a growl it left the room and headed down the hall. Melek stared a little bit wide eyed at the acquaintance, shocked that the Hollow had actually responded and did what Kazumi had asked.

"What's that look for?" The tanned girl asked when she looked back at the shocked Melek.

Melek shook her head and her eyebrows furrowed, she was still very confused and didn't know how to start out. "It…Listened to you? That Hollow Reaper listened to you and it obeyed you and understood your every word…" The brunette sounded very confused and a little bit frantic. Kazumi just nodded to everything she had said and she looked rather nonchalant about the whole situation. "How did you do that?" She asked raising her eyebrow. Kazumi pointed her thumb to the hall as a gesture to question if she was talking about the Hollow Reaper, and Melek nodded.

"I gave it an order. It's that simple." The ebony haired woman simply responded, taking everything calmly and not really caring much about it. When Melek gave another questioning look, Kazumi continued. "I know what you're thinking. They don't listen to people. Well that's the difference between you and me. They listen to me, and do as I say." She continued on to explain, her green eyes staring at Melek's brown ones.

Melek still seemed a little bit stunned by this. "But…Why do they obey you? I don't get it…" She whispered trying to adapt to the situation. How could one be so nonchalant about it? It was something Melek wasn't used to, and it seemed odd. But to Kazumi it was a lot more natural then the brunette thought. Melek began to wonder if she hit her head harder than she presumed.

"It's most likely because I created them." Kazumi answered as her head tilted to the side a little bit. At that Melek's eyes widened a little bit in shock. She was in pure shock and she had no idea. Kazumi frowned at Melek's reaction, but then she smiled and began to kick her legs.

"You…What? How did you…Did you…You created them?" Melek asked just to be sure she heard the person right, and Kazumi simply nodded as a sign that what she had just said was true. "How did you create them?" The brunette asked while her eyes narrowed a little bit, getting suspicious and cautious.

"I sing to them, and it awakens their Hollows. I found this out when I was alone with my brother one day. We came here, I sang and Hollows began to awake. It was a lovely change, a bit better than Shinigami." The green eyed woman explained, continuing to kick her legs, her smile growing bigger, her eyes relaxing. This left Melek to be once again stunned and she had no idea how to react to that. Then she noticed something on Kazumi's knee while she was kicking her legs. She had a bone fragment there, and that meant one thing.

"You're…An Arrancar, aren't you?" The pale brunette asked quietly, and Kazumi stopped kicking. While she did Melek had flashes running through her head, memory flashes. She began to remember something about a song, and about being in her world with her brother and a girl showing up. The girl she was thinking of reminded her of Kazumi, but…Was it possible?

Kazumi smiled and she nodded. "Indeed I am. Not very experienced though. Unfortunately I don't know how to use my Zanpakuto so I left it in Hueco Mundo. I can use my Cero and Sonido, but I can't fight very well. So I use the Hollow's to do that for me. Or I get my brother to do that." She explained as she looked over at Melek again, smiling.

While Kazumi was explaining, Melek couldn't help but feel so foolish for forgetting about the Arrancar attack in her own world. This, this girl with her in the room. Her name was Kazumi and Kazumi was the Arrancar that she and Ichigo had run into in their world. But now, she knew how people got infected. It was her song; her song awakens their Hollow's. Kazumi went on to also say that it was a slow process, meaning that it took the Shinigami awhile to gain an actual Hollow form, and it took them awhile to begin talking. It all made sense now. But what confused Melek also, was why she was doing what she was. Then Melek was also confused as to why the ebony haired girl had dressed and cleaned her wounds. "Why did you help me?" She asked her eyebrows furrowing.

Kazumi pointed to the brunette's chest and tilted her head to the side. "I thought you were one of us. Well, sort of. I can sense a Hollow in you, but you're a Shinigami. Well, no, that isn't entirely true. You're a Vizard if I remember correctly…" The green eyed woman remarked, trying to remember if 'Vizard' was the correct term for what she was thinking of. Nevertheless, that answered Melek's question completely.

Melek began to look around the room; she had to find her Zanpakuto. It had to be around somewhere, somewhere close too. Kazumi must have placed it off to the side in the same room somewhere but Melek couldn't spot it. Kazumi looked at Melek and raised her brow. "What are you looking for? You won't leave so soon, right?" She asked, sounding a little insecure, but she kept her smile.

The brunette said nothing; all she did was reach down and slowly push off the plethora of snow white blankets. She knew that at that very moment that she had to get the hell out of there. There was no doubt about it. She didn't feel very safe, and she wasn't as safe as she thought she really was.

Kazumi kept her smile and she sighed as she tilted her head to the side. "Oh come on. Don't leave so soon, Melek. I was hoping we could be friends." The ebony haired Arrancar said as she stood up from the bed, watching all of Melek's movements.

Melek said nothing for awhile and then she stood up and looked around the room. "So…May I ask something?" The pale girl asked she knew she had to keep Kazumi busy, so she could find her Zanpakuto. Kazumi nodded and Melek went on to ask, her eyes still scanning the room. "Well, since I have Hollow powers, does that make me immune to the song?" She asked curiously, not once looking back at the Arrancar.

The ebony haired girl chuckled and shook her head. "Hehe, no! Since you have Hollow powers it won't give you that. It will however make your powers flourish, and like everyone else you will do my bidding." She explained keeping her pale eyes on the Shinigami substitute, her voice didn't quaver and what she was saying sounded very true. Everything that was happening only continued to make the brunette nervous, but she kept it inside her.

When Melek looked over to the other side of the room, her eyes locked with Jitsugetsu. Her Zanpakuto was across the room, past her bed and past the odd mattresses that the Arrancar had set up.

"Looking for something?"

When this was asked, Melek looked over at Kazumi and their eyes locked. Kazumi smiled at Melek as though she had been reading her mind. That or her movements were that obvious. "Come on. Stay, Melek. We'll talk to each other, have fun, and talk about many things. It will be fun. A girl like me gets rather lonely being alone a lot." The slightly tanned girl sighed and her smile seemed more taunting then it had before. "I want to actually talk with someone, rather than them growling and drooling. It's a hassle. Come on. Stay, Melek."

Melek shook her head a quiet and barely audible sigh coming from her opened lips. "I can't stay. I have to find my brother." She steadily said, her voice serious and her eyes narrowed and eyebrows furrowed. She wasn't going to let an Arrancar taunt her like that.

Kazumi shook her head as well. "Don't get your hopes up. He's probably dead or one of the Hollows now." The ebony haired Arrancar remarked calmly, her smile remaining as she noticed Melek flinch lightly at that. It was like she knew Melek's every weakness, but that wasn't the case. She just knew the right things to say.

The brunette refused to believe what the other girl had said. Her brother was strong and determined. There was no way he would allow himself to become a Hollow or die. Not her brother. "I don't believe you." The dark eyed girl roughly stated as she silently glared at Kazumi.

"Listen and listen closely, dear. I will give you _one _chance and _one _chance only. Only because I like you." Kazumi started as she began to approach the bed, her smile remaining and when she spoke, she spoke with confidence and pride. "Either join me on your own free will and become an ally. Or I will infect you with my song and _force_ you down into submission. It's your choice. You have ten seconds to decide."

And with that, Kazumi began to count down, not wasting any time. It wasn't much to decide from, even if it was Melek wasn't going to oblige to any of those. She was stronger and more determined than that. She would feel pretty ashamed if she let herself get infected or if she joined by her own free will. She was a Kurosaki and she had her pride to worry about in that sense.

Melek sighed and frowned as she closed her eyes. She opened them and looked at the Arrancar. "I suppose the only option is to kill me then. Because I won't do either one of those things."

The once nice and caring expression on Kazumi's face washed away and she sighed, looking down at the brunette. "That's unfortunate. I was hoping it wouldn't go to that, but I see there is no choice in the matter." The ebony haired tanned girl responded, not very pleased with Melek's answer. She suddenly went and jumped over to Melek, and she seemed to be pretty fast, but Melek had a trick or two up her sleeve. Quickly she grabbed the pure white blankets that were on the bed and used them as a matador's cape, or like a flag, and she caught Kazumi, when Kazumi was on the bed she made a run for across the room. The ebony haired girl growled in annoyance and she struggled to get out of the heavy blankets. "Go! Hollows stop Kurosaki Melek!"

Melek's pale hand reached out and she grabbed the black hilt that had belonged to Jitsugetsu and she looked around the room. It certainly hadn't taken long for the Hollow Reapers to surround her. Thankfully for Melek though she was by a window and that gave her an idea. She began to break the window with her elbow and as the Hollow Reapers charged at her Melek backed up against it. "Sayonara!" She yelled giving the peace sign, and she quickly jumped out the window.

She carefully landed on the ground and sighed looking around. It wasn't that far of a jump, so she was thankful for that. What she wasn't thankful for were all those Hollow Reapers that persistently continued to go after her. So quickly, the brunette began to run forward, getting away from the squad four barracks, and as she did she noticed more and more Hollow Reapers coming after her.

As Melek was running there was a black flash, and she felt herself leaving the ground and she felt someone's hands on her. Everything was spinning and things looked odd and very distorted to her, so thinking it was an enemy, Melek began to elbow the person's chin, yelling at the captor to let go of her. The pale Kurosaki thrust her elbow upwards again and she effectively hit the chin of the person.

The next thing she knew she was skidding on cold ground because the person carrying her had stumbled from her attack and had fallen over on his front side, which caused him to drop Melek. The person and Melek both groaned, and her captor sat up slowly and rubbing his chin, while his other arm held him upward. "Sunshine that hurt…What was that for?" That voice. Melek would know it in a heart beat and when she heard it her head shot up, and she had a big smile on her face and she looked very happy.

"Ichigo!" She chimed and she ran over and hugged her brother tightly. "Oh Honey! I was so worried about you!" The brunette yelled, her voice quavering a little bit from all that excitement, she felt Ichigo's arms wrap around her frail body and she snuggled against him. "Ichigo…" She whispered and then the two of them pulled back. The substitute Shinigami went from excited to serious like the snapping of one's fingers, and she looked up at her brother's chocolate brown eyes. "I have something I need to tell you and anyone else who's sane."

* * *

And that's the chapter!

The first Kazumi and Melek interaction, haha I love it. It turned out GREAT in my opinion. Trololo, Kazumi putting on a charade the whole time. Well, most of the time anyway, trololo. That's probably why I like it so much, because of the play on words that Kazumi gave to Melek, hehe. It was fun.

Reviews are welcome, just no flamers. Thank you.

**TRANSLATIONS:**

**Shinigami= Soul Reaper**

**Reiatsu= Spiritual Pressure**

**Sayonara= Goodbye**


	10. Chapter 10

**Disclaimer: Bleach belongs to Kubo Tite**

****Yo! welcome back! Sorry for the wait, I was to upload it yesterday but I couldn't find the time, I was so tired, trololo. But here it is.

Reviews are welcome. Just no flamers. Thank you and enjoy the feature presentation.

* * *

**SCHERZO chapter 10**

Five minutes after having finally found Ichigo, and after their short little reunion, things went back to being serious. Melek had told Ichigo about her encounter with the Arrancar, she also told Renji who was down in the sewers with them when this was being explained, and so the redhead lieutenant decided it would be best to hold a captains and lieutenants meeting so that everyone knew what exactly was causing the Shinigami to hollowfy uncontrollably.

Melek and Ichigo were thankfully allowed in the captain's hall as well, considering that Melek and Ichigo had been the first two to actually encounter the two Arrancar's up front, and had actually battled with them. It was a long wait, it seemed. The only captains that had actually showed up right away were Shunsui, the Old Man, Unohana, Komamura, and Soifon.

After what had seemed to be at least half an hour, the rest of the captains and lieutenants had showed up. Well, not exactly all of them, just some of them. Ukitake wasn't there so they had figured he was ill, Toshiro wasn't there which struck them as odd, considering he was usually always at the meetings. The Vizard captains weren't there, but they understood why they hadn't been. Kenpachi wasn't there either, but they knew that he was hollowfied, well unconscious in the fourth squad barracks and under stable condition. Some of the lieutenants didn't show up either, however. Izuru wasn't there, nor Hisagi, but it seemed that most of them were there, even Rukia.

The Old Man slammed down his cane and his squinty eyes opened. There was one thing that had to be taken care of first, and that would be why some of the lieutenants weren't there. "Has anyone seen Lieutenant Hisagi, and Lieutenant Kira?" His voice boomed out throughout the meeting hall, but neither the Kurosaki's flinched, or the captains and lieutenants.

Melek took a step forward, she didn't shuffle her feet and she looked serious. "I saw Hisagi, I ran into him at least an hour ago." The brunette began, getting the attention from everyone in the captain's hall. The pale substitute took a deep breath and then continued. "We had to run away from the Hollow Reapers, we were running on the rooftops when there was an explosion. I thought he was behind me but he wasn't, I don't know what happened to him."

The wolf-like Shinigami took a step forward while his eyes watched Melek. "Was Kira with him? Did he mention anything about him?" The captain asked steadily, and Melek looked up at him shaking her head with a sigh.

"He wasn't with Hisagi. Hisagi was trying to find Kira, but to no avail." Melek explained then she stepped back beside her brother and decided to let the Head Captain to take the meeting on from there, only to speak when spoken to. She may not have been one for formalities but she knew when she had to be quiet and respectful, after all, she did respect most of the people in the room, aside from a few that she personally didn't like.

Ichigo then realized that Toshiro had been out of the room, he hadn't even shown up. Shouldn't have the Head Captain mentioned that he was away? The orange haired teen struck it as odd and he didn't know why the Head Captain would be more concerned about lieutenants when a captain could be in danger. Toshiro was part of the Thirteen Court Guard Squads too, and since he was a captain he should have been a bit more important than the lieutenants. So Ichigo thought. The boy took a step forward and placed a hand on his chest. "Oi! What about Toshiro? Aren't you concerned about him?"

Yamamoto moved his squinty eyes to Ichigo, he had a poker face on and he didn't seem to be too bothered by the outburst. Everyone watched Ichigo when he spoke up. "I don't doubt that Toshiro is fine, he is a captain and is capable of watching over himself." Was what he had responded with, and Ichigo still didn't get it. If captains were capable of that then so were lieutenants, so why would he be more concerned about them?

Byakuya at this point took one step forward. "My lieutenant said that this meeting would be important and about how these Shinigami are hollowfying. I don't want to interject, but that's what we should be speaking about." The ebony haired noble man calmly added, and Ichigo scowled while taking a step back beside his sister, his pale hand falling to his side.

Melek frowned and she looked around the room at everyone. "Well, there's two Arrancar's here in Soul Society. One is a male the other is female. Now the female, her name is Kazumi…" She trailed out when she mentioned Kazumi's name, and all the while everyone had been waiting to see what the problem was. Melek cleared her throat and looked up. "She sings, and when she does it awakens peoples Hollows, it infects them." The pale brunette explained and then she went on and continued.

* * *

After a long hour of explanations and talking and things being figured out. The captain's meeting was over and everyone went back to their posts. All captains and lieutenants, and all third seats as well were told to keep an eye out for the two Arrancar, and to attack with caution. They weren't to kill Kazumi or Arata because they still needed a way for the hollowfied Shinigami to either stop hollowfying or to cure them from their Hollow's.

It wasn't a very good situation. Many of the lower rank squad members, even some third seats had been hollowfied. Some people had recently found out about Yumichika being hollowfied, but no one still had any idea about what had been happening with Toshiro. News about Hisagi and Kira weren't going well either, they still hadn't been found, and their reiatsu was gone.

Many buildings and streets had been blow up too, considering that many of the Hollow Reapers were going berserk when they had first hollowfied. Some buildings were on fire and many of the low ranking Shinigami who weren't hollowfied were unsure of how to deal with the Hollow Reapers. They didn't know if fighting them would solve it, for all they knew, if they knocked them out they would just wake up and remain hollowfied. The situation in the Soul Society was grave.

A group of Shinigami, including the Kurosaki's decided that they would use the sewers to make a safe route around the Soul Society, that way the Hollow Reapers wouldn't be able to infect them. They all tried to get as many as they could but most of the Shinigami they asked refused, saying that it was stupid to go into 'hiding' though, that hadn't been the case at all. It wasn't a matter of hiding; it was just a matter of keeping as many people as they could sane. In the group of Shinigami were Renji, Rukia, and Hanatarou for health care, and a few others.

The group decided it would be their base of operations and they would make plans there and when the time was right they would go take on their posts. No one in the group seemed to protest at that, it wasn't as though they'd stay down there all day, they were to meet up back there at night where they could recuperate and then in the morning they would go do their posts. It was working fine, though some people were concerned for Rukia, considering that her Hollow could re-awaken at any given moment.

It was the next morning and Renji, Ichigo and Melek decided that they would go up and search for Kazumi. They told Rukia it would be best if she stayed back and do something else, like collect supplies in the sewers rather than going with their group, considering she would be more of a target for Kazumi, she could hollowfy quickly if Kazumi sung. Though it could be said the same for the Kurosaki's. It had been proven that Renji wasn't affected by it, and he wanted to go anyway so he could get some answers from Kazumi himself.

"So where was she last seen, Melek?" Ichigo asked while he moved his chocolate brown orbs down to his younger sister. She was the last to see Kazumi, so it was only logical to ask Melek where the Arrancar was.

Melek sighed and frowned a little bit. "Well, she was at the fourth squad, but she might not be there anymore. I mean she probably thinks she's lucky for having gotten away." The brunette answered as she looked up at her brother and Renji. "But it's always worth a shot to go see." She muttered.

Renji had his arms crossed over his chest and he looked down at the brunette. "You could go check there while I check surrounding areas. That sound good?" The lieutenant asked while he furrowed his tattooed eyebrows. He was determined to find this girl. After all, she had messed with his fiancé and he had a little bit of a bone to pick with her.

Ichigo shook his head and almost glared at the foolish man. "Hell no!" He yelled which caused Renji to flinch in annoyance. The redhead looked at him scowling. Ichigo's orange eyebrows furrowed and he sighed. "Listen, it'll be safer if we all go. What if she finds a way to infect you? Maybe her song won't do the trick but maybe she has more tricks. Going alone would be stupid!" The orange spiky haired teen said in a matter-of-factly way.

Renji scowled and he was going to retort then he huffed and turned his head to the side. He mumbled a 'whatever', and with that the group of three began to walk through the sewers and to the fourth squad. When they were at the flagstone, Melek looked out through it and signalled that it was safe, and then they all jumped out of the sewers and headed for the nearest building.

The trio soon reached the fourth squad with the help of Renji's directions and after that Melek led them to the room that she and Kazumi had been in. They all cautiously looked around the room, but to no avail. Kazumi wasn't there, and since she was good at concealing her reiatsu, it wasn't likely to be felt anywhere. Since she hadn't been in the hospital room, the group headed into other rooms, and then they made the decision to head to the garden that Unohana had.

In the garden were many flower beds with many different flowers, such as roses, tulips, and many other distinguishable flowers. There were small trees in little pots, and then other bigger trees which had fruits on them. It wasn't that bad of a garden considering that it didn't rain much in the Soul Society, it must have been hard to water it all by hand, considering how many flowers there were.

Renji scowled as he looked around, not finding anything. "How hard is it to find one Arrancar?" He asked mostly to himself, and Ichigo stood up straight and looked over his shoulder at Renji, deadpanning.

"In the meeting we stated that there were _two_ Arrancar, Renji. But we don't know where he is. We only know where uh…Ka…Katrina?…No…Kaz…Kaze?" The orange spiky haired teen trailed off and he put a hand on his chin, sweat dropping. Renji laughed and crossed his arms, giving Ichigo a smartass kind of look. Ichigo glared at the ground then he looked over at his sister chibi-like. "Hey, Sunshine, what was her name?" He asked, having trouble remembering.

Melek sweat dropped as she looked over at her forgetful brother. "It's Kazumi." She sighed and shook her head while she walked over to the two boys. The search wasn't going well at all. They had no signs of Kazumi anywhere. "This isn't working; maybe she just isn't here…" The brunette mumbled as she looked up at her older brother, tilting her head to the side lightly.

"You try too hard."

At that the trio looked over to one of the trees in the garden, and up on one of the tree branches, sat Kazumi. She was smiling and kicking her legs lighting. Though her outfit was different than before, in a sense. Her skirt was the same, but her jacket was shorter and it showed her stomach which showed her Hollow hole. Kazumi tilted her head to the sighed and looked at Melek. "Oh, you brought a friend with you. How sweet, dear."

Melek frowned and she placed a hand on her Jitsugetsu's hilt, while Ichigo unsheathed Zangetsu entirely, pointing the large blade at Kazumi. He glared at the Arrancar, but he remained where he was, not wanting to take any risky options. "We need some answers from you…" He muttered, hinting malice in his voice purposefully.

Kazumi shook her head and crossed her arms. "Don't be like that. I want to talk to you that's all, relax there big boy." The ebony haired woman sighed as she removed her eyes from Melek's, now looking at the orange haired substitute Shinigami. "Melek…Have you come back to tell me that you want to be my friend? Can you imagine it? You and I…Best friends forever~" She chimed sweetly as she moved her eyes back to Melek.

"I can't imagine it. I don't want it. The only kind of friendship you want is one where you can control me. That isn't a real friendship, just a pain in the ass." The pale brunette responded simply, scowling at the question. She didn't want to be friends with the enemy and she certainly didn't want to be forced down into submission from her song. All in all it seemed like it was a no-win situation.

Renji glared at the Arrancar. "I have a bone to pick with you, missy." He started out, as he placed his hand on his Zanpakuto's hilt. Kazumi blinked her big eyes and she looked at the redhead lieutenant, keeping her smile. It almost looked like a challenging smile, so Renji gave her an arrogant smirk. "You messed with my fiancé, and I didn't like that…" He continued on then he withdrew his sword, raising it up. "Now Roar Zabimaru!"

Renji's Zanpakuto released into its Shikai and he began to swing it above his head, he thrust his arm forward and sent his linked Zanpakuto at Kazumi. However, there was a clash and sparks flew. There was another person there. It was Arata, the last person that Ichigo personally didn't want to see. The redhead Arrancar jumped down as Renji's sword linked back together. Renji glared at Arata and he raised his sword in a defensive stance. Arata smirked and he placed his blade on his shoulder.

"Hisashiburi da, Kurosaki-girl, Kurosaki, and…I've never seen you before. What's your name, tattoo-man?" Arata asked cockily as he kept his purple orbs on Renji's brown ones.

"Abarai Renji! Lieutenant of the sixth squad!" The redhead yelled and then he whipped Zabimaru at Arata. Arata was quick and he jumped out of the way before the attack could hit him.

Arata grinned with excitement. "I'm Arata, but you won't need to remember that. Soon you won't remember much of anything!" He yelled and he ran towards Renji, his sword shining as he made a swing at the redhead. The brown eyed man quickly slammed Zabimaru against Arata's Zanpakuto and he and Arata began to fight each other, being on what seemed to be equal level.

Renji slammed Arata out of the building so that the two of them could be fighting in a more open area. An area that Renji would have a better advantage in. Renji thrust his arm forward again and he ended up piercing the purple eyed man in the shoulder, causing him to cough up a little bit of blood. Arata didn't give up though, he jerked himself out of Zabimaru and he charged towards Renji while he began to fire his yellow cero. Renji had no time to react and before he knew all he saw was white.

"Renji!" Ichigo called out as he ran through the hole in the wall, wrapping a Getsuga around his blade. "You bastard!" The orange spiky haired boy yelled as he swung his sword at Arata, the Arrancar was quick though and he turned around blocking the younger boy's attack. Arata pushed Ichigo back and then he turned to see Renji standing behind him. Renji looked sore, he had burns running down his left side and his arm was bleeding a little bit from the cero.

Arata turned around and blocked Ichigo's next attack and he frowned at the boy. He had had enough of Ichigo. He wanted to fight someone new; someone he figured was much stronger than Ichigo. Arata pushed Ichigo back and then he grabbed the orange haired boy's shoulder and slammed his back into the ground. Ichigo coughed up some blood and he began to pant so he could catch his breath. The impact was hard on his back and it blew the air out of him, he found it hard to breathe. Without wasting time, Arata slammed his Zanpakuto through Ichigo's stomach, causing Ichigo to wide his brown eyes, blood trickling down from his mouth.

Wanting to make sure that the other Kurosaki couldn't go to Ichigo's aid, Arata fired a smaller cero, causing the building walls to collapse in the fourth squad garden, trapping Melek inside. He knew his sister would be fine inside with Melek if he did that, so he wasn't worried. The redhead Arrancar then turned to Renji and grinned.

Renji gave another arrogant smirk and he raised his Zanpakuto. He was a little distracted by the fact that Ichigo was pinned and that Melek was trapped inside, but he wouldn't let that get to the better of him. Renji and Arata charged at each other simultaneously and Renji thrust his sword at Arata's chest, but Arata kicked it out the way and then he kneed Renji in the stomach. Renji scowled and he bent down only a little bit then he side kicked the Arrancar in his side.

The brown eyed Shinigami went to jab his sword through Arata's shoulder, like he had before, quickly Arata charged a half-assed cero and made the Shinigami's blade bounce off his cero. Arata looked over his shoulder at the substitute Shinigami trying to pull the Zanpakuto out of his stomach, but effectively failed, after all Arata had slammed it at least two feet if not more in the ground. The redhead liked fighting with his Zanpakuto better though so he used his Sonido, grabbed the blade and harshly pulled it from Ichigo's stomach, causing him to groan in pain.

Renji and Arata clashed their swords again and as they did more sparks flew off. Arata paid no mind to Ichigo who had stood up and began to run at him. He used his Sonido to get out of the way, and as he did so the two friends ended up cutting each other. Ichigo and Renji were a little wide eyed and they quickly withdrew their swords from each other and groaned quietly. It was another one of Arata's tricks for sure. Arata looked over at the two boys and smiled innocently. Yes, it was another trick.

Before anyone knew Melek's Suta Senko blasted through the rubble, making yet another hole in the building, and the attack made a large wide crack in the ground. It caught Ichigo and Renji by surprise, but Arata seemed nonchalant about it all he did was side step out of the way. It wasn't as though Melek was aiming at him, but just at the wall.

Ichigo's eyes widened a little bit and he roughly semi-turned his body only to see Melek running out of the building. "Run! Run! He set the bloody place into an ice field!" She screamed grabbing Ichigo and Renji's wrists beginning to run out the area while quickly dragging them along.

Ichigo and Renji's eyes remained wide and they both looked over to see a large wave of ice rushing towards them. The two boys then turned around and picked up the pace along with Melek making a mad dash to get the hell out of the area. While they were running they were coming upon a dead end, with buildings and walls surrounding all the possible exits. The large wave of ice was right on their trail. They had no way out. They were trapped against walls and ice.

"We're stuck!" Melek yelled while her eyebrows furrowed, she turned and looked over her shoulder seeing that the ice was catching up.

Renji scowled and shook his head he unsheathed Zabimaru and he looked over at Ichigo who was glaring at the wall. Ichigo looked over at Renji and he gave a faint nod, knowing what the older man was going to do. Ichigo quickly unsheathed his Zangetsu and he wrapped a Getsuga around it like before. "Hurry!" Renji yelled as he raised his sword, re-releasing it.

"Getsuga Tenshou!"

Ichigo yelled and as he did, both he and Renji fired their attacks at the wall before them. The ice was coming up and it had almost caught up with them, but soon there was an explosion and the wall blew up big enough for them all to get through. Ichigo turned and grabbed his sister by her waist and he and Renji used their flash step to get out of the area. As they left, the ice collided with the wall and anything else that was within a four mile radius, freezing everything there, and then it stopped.

The group were back safely in the tunnel within a few minutes and Ichigo set his sister down and the group of them panted a little bit. It was a harsh run, considering they had been in the middle of a fight, and if it hadn't been for Melek shooting her Suta Senko attack through the wall and warning them, they probably would have been frozen by the ice.

Ichigo sat down and leaned against the wall looking up at the dark ceiling in the sewers. He shook his head, clearly confused as to what had just happened. He and Renji were fighting and then the ice came. It happened so suddenly and it was rather confusing. He looked up at his standing sister and grinned a little bit. "Hey, thanks for warning us." The orange spiky haired teen thanked gratefully. It looked like he didn't have to be worried about his sister too much when she was trapped inside the building with Kazumi after all. He should have known. He should have had a bit more faith in her than that.

Melek shrugged and she remained silent, holding her right arm she moved her dark brown eyes away from Ichigo and Renji both and she was staring at the wall on the other side of the sewers. The pale girl's arm had a bit of ice on it, and it was cold and it stung her a little bit, but that wasn't the problem. That wasn't what she was concerned about in the slightest.

Ichigo frowned and he tilted his head to the side. "You okay?" He asked in a bit of worry, expecting at least a half-ass 'you're welcome', or some kind of smartass comment. When he didn't even get that, it worried him a little bit. Maybe something happened with Kazumi again, or maybe it was something else.

Renji raised his tattooed brow and he looked down at the substitute Shinigami female. "Just one question…" The redhead began which caused both Ichigo and Melek to look up at him, giving him a curious look. Though Melek looked a bit distracted and seemingly worried as to what Renji was going to say. "Who sent the ice?" The tall man asked and then he and Ichigo both looked at Melek, who now looked rather saddened.

"They have Toshiro."

* * *

And that's the chapter!

I have to admit I like the little scene where they find Kazumi then Arata shows up, then the thing about the ice. Trololo "They set the bloody place into an ice field!" I don't know why, I get a kick out of that. Trololo, it's either stay there and die from being frozen to death or run. I prefer to run, haha.

**TRANSLATIONS:**

**Shinigami= Soul Reaper**

**Reiatsu= Spiritual Pressure**

**Hisashiburi da= It's been awhile**


	11. Chapter 11

**Disclaimer: Bleach belongs to Kubo Tite.**

YO! Welcome back at last! *takes deep breath* Sorry this took so long, you have **no** damn idea how hard it was for me to write, and it's not because of the scene's, it was just a matter of getting it done. I mean I felt like the energy in my body was being trained from me while I was writing. So...This chapter is a little meh in my opinion, but it picks RIGHT back up in the next chapter, which I hope to get done by Monday!

Reviews are welcome, just no flamers. Thank you and enjoy the feature presentation.

* * *

**SCHERZO chapter 11**

When the news spread around that Toshiro, the young child prodigy was now a Hollow; things began to turn twice as bad. Rangiku was in a state of shock and she didn't know what to do. She had been with Toshiro for awhile until he went to go visit the fourth squad, the strawberry blonde woman just wished that she was there to help him. She almost felt as though it was her fault, like she was the one who caused this. To make matters worse for the squad ten lieutenant, her friends Izuru and Hisagi were still missing.

It hadn't only affected Rangiku though, it affected another girl. A girl who had known Toshiro her whole life. They grew up together and even though they argued at times about the nicknames the ebony haired girl gave to him, they were still very close.

When one of the sane officers of the fifth squad told her the news, she felt her eyes widen and she felt sweat drip off her chin. The short and very fragile girl also felt tears well up in the brim of her big hazel eyes. "SHIRO-CHAN!" She screamed in agony as she fell onto her knees. Her body was shaking and she felt a tear drip off of her chin. The officer bowed and left the lieutenants office, knowing that the fragile girl needed to be left alone.

Momo was devastated by the news. The lieutenant found it unfair that such a thing had happened to one of her closest friends. After the Aizen incident and losing him, she was always so scared of losing other people, Toshiro being one of those people; the ebony haired girl didn't know what to do. She stood up and she was sobbing quietly in her throat, and she did her best to make sure her little tears wouldn't fall from her face. She turned and looked up to see Alev standing there, looking down at her with a look of sympathy.

The ebony haired girl stared at the ruby eyed Alev and she remained silent. Her sobbing had stopped but she still had tears in her eyes. Her thick eyebrows furrowed and she glared at the brunette. Her white teeth gritted themselves and she turned around, looking away.

"Momo? Hey…It'll be alright, Hitsugaya is strong. He can make it through this." The fox-like Arrancar remarked as she made herself smile. She went to place a hand on the girl's shoulder, but Momo turned around and jumped back a few paces, placing a hand on her sword's pink handle. Alev sighed and she shook her head. "I don't want to fight you."

Momo had a large smirk on her face and she laughed in her throat. "Maybe not. But I want to fight you! It's your fault this happened! If you were there, protecting him, this would not have happened!" Her voice was distorted and what she was saying was completely illogical. Her eyes slowly began to turn black and gold and she had the intent to kill in her eyes. Momo wasted no time withdrawing her Zanpakuto, keeping her different coloured eyes locked with Alev's.

Alev raised her hands and sighed again, frowning. "What you're saying isn't very sensible. Just relax. Maybe we should take you to the fourth squad." The brunette suggested calmly, not paying much attention to the fact that the lieutenant had drawn her sword. Momo shook her head and she placed her hand out in front of her, and like it was the most natural thing in the world, she began to form a pink cero from her palm. _A cero?! But how is that…She just hollowfied! _Alev thought to herself, glaring at the crazy Momo.

Momo fired her cero and blasted it through the wall; the brunette side stepped and jumped out of the way. Momo charged at Alev and she forcefully made Alev withdraw her sword because she was aiming at Alev's chest with her own. The brunette kept her frown but nevertheless she blocked Momo's attack and jumped back from the ebony haired girl. Momo grinned and laughed psychotically pointing her sword at Alev.

* * *

Rangiku was frantically searching throughout the Seireitei to find her captain, it was hard though. Many buildings were burning and many walls were destroyed. A lot of reiatsu was in the air and it was quite hard to distinguish whose reiatsu from whose. The strawberry blonde busty woman almost felt lost in the area. She had to be sneaky but she also had to be fast. She didn't want her captain to become a full Hollow.

There were so many Hollow Reapers running around destroying the places in the Seireitei, it hadn't been that bad since the Winter War, and even then they were fighting in a fake Karakura Town. While Rangiku was running she saw something she never expected to see and that was the sight of a once normal Shinigami taking on the form of a Hollow. Almost but not quite. The mask was on his face, and he had half his chest transformed. It was only a matter of time before he was completely taken over by the Hollow he had residing in him.

It was not a sight that Rangiku wished to see. It made her panic inside that her captain could be like that at any moment. Yes, he may have been a very strong captain and a prodigy, but he was still very young. What if he had no idea on how to handle the Hollow within? The tall woman shook her head. She had to have faith in Toshiro. He would find a way to defeat the Hollow. If he didn't, then Rangiku decided that she would help him as best she could.

With those many thoughts in mind, Rangiku used her flash step to get out of the area entirely. When she was in a different area, she gasped when she saw another person she had been looking for. At long last she found Hisagi and he was alright, minus some bruises he had on his arms. Rangiku quickly ran over to him and she moved her grey eyes up to his eyes, smiling with relief.

"Hisagi! I'm glad you're okay!" Rangiku exclaimed and Shuhei turned around and gave a faint nod, grinning a little himself.

"I'm glad you're safe too. Though I still haven't found Kira…" He mumbled shaking his head. It shouldn't have been so hard to find someone. But in a disaster like this, it was seemingly the only natural thing that had been happening. Rangiku frowned at the news but she sighed and nodded. She figured that it would still be like that, but she didn't want to accept it. The grey eyed woman wanted to find him, Kira could be in danger and it was their job to go to try and find them.

Rangiku sighed and she looked serious. "Alright, let's go find him. Things may be hectic, but we have to do this." The strawberry blonde responded and with that the both of them headed out to find their friend. Both of them hoping and praying that by some chance, he would be okay.

* * *

Things in the Soul Society were getting worse and worse by the minute it seemed. Whenever someone turned around yet another innocent Shinigami would be hollowfying, or a building would be brought to fire. The worst part was, was that no one had found a cure to heal the hollowfying Shinigami. Not even Kurostuchi Mayuri, or Unohana. Squad five was in a bit of trouble too, it was apparent that Momo had hollowfied and was wreaking havoc, though Alev the third seat was doing her best to stop it.

This was all amusing to the two Arrancar who were sitting on a rooftop. By that point, they didn't even have to hide from the Shinigami. Most of them were hollowfying or hollowfied, and it kept the Shinigami who weren't hollowfied busy. Kazumi was kicking her legs over the edge and smiling at the distance. She could see smoke, and lots of it, along with many explosions, small ones and big ones. Arata was beside her and he was watching as well, but he was slouching and resting his head on the palm of his hand.

He seemed rather bored. He wasn't exactly one for wanting to sit around and check things out. The redhead would much prefer go help reek havoc, but he knew that his sister wouldn't like that, and that he would get a scolding if he were to do something that she didn't give the order to do. If only Kazumi wouldn't scold him for every thing that he tried to do.

Then an idea struck the Arrancar, and he chuckled in his throat, feeling stupid that he never thought of it before hand. _I can do whatever I want. As long as she doesn't find out…_Arata thought as he smiled to himself. It was a risky idea, but Arata had a little something in mind. An image of Ichigo flashed through his head and his purple orbs flashed for a minute. He wanted to mess around with Ichigo some more. He did always get a kick out of how annoyed the orange haired boy would get.

Kazumi raised her thin brown and she leaned back on her hands and looked at her brother, who was smiling. It wasn't everyday that he smiled for no reason, and she grew suspicious quickly. "What's up?" The ebony haired Arrancar asked tilting her head to the side a little bit.

"Nothing, I just…Was thinking about how amusing this all is." Arata answered, it wasn't exactly a lie, it was true he was amused, and it was because things were getting destructive, but it was mostly because of the plan he conjured up for himself. When Kazumi shrugged and looked back out at the horizon, the redhead began to think of when he would strike.

He wouldn't go right up to the Kurosaki and fight him, like he usually had. No, the redhead got a better idea, it was just a matter of it would work or not. It may have been a cruel idea, but he was an Arrancar, and he didn't care what happened to any of the Shinigami. Once again Ichigo flashed in his mind. He didn't care about any of them. The redhead would have it his way, play a little and have fun.

Arata leaned back and lied down on the roof, letting his legs dangle off the side of the roof. He closed his purple orbs, and decided he would sleep until he would go and make his move. It was a good plan to him, the better rested he was the better. The only other thing he had to make sure of was the fact that his sister was gone and away from him, that way she would have no idea about what he was going to do. He silently sighed and felt a little saddened suddenly. He wished he would have more freedom.

* * *

Rukia and Renji went to inform the group that they were heading up and out of the sewers to go check on Byakuya and a few others from their squads, such as Kyione, Sentarou and Rukia's captain. Luckily for them, no one had any objects, and they were okay with them going up to do that. They were even allowing Rukia to go as well, even though she had a high risk of hollowfying. The group decided that they wouldn't let fear of that hold them back from getting things done.

Hanatarou had always stayed down in the sewers though to make sure there was enough food and clean water for everyone for when they were to come back. He had a lot of medical supplies with him and he had brought extra blankets and pillows from the fourth squad for everyone in their group. Everyone, including the Kurosaki's did figure that they would be down in the Soul Society dealing with the problem for quite awhile. They did keep track of the days as well, to see how long it had been, they started doing that when the Kurosaki's had arrived, which was about a week or more ago.

The one thing that the sane Shinigami were happy about though, and that was that there were no human casualties involved, considering the Kurosaki's went to the Soul Society almost instantly after getting the news. It was much safer that way; the humans were the Shinigami's first priority.

While thoughts of this were running through Rukia's head, she finally wrapped her head around how serious the situation really was. She didn't want to think of it as anything too serious at first, just something that was to be taken care of quickly. But she was wrong. It was more serious than most people imagined it would get. The Vizard captains were still away, Kenpachi was still hospitalized, Yumichika and Ikkaku were still fighting, and Alev and Momo were at it as well. Toshiro hadn't been seen since the Kurosaki's saw him, and no one still had any idea as to where Kira was.

Rukia was afraid that her brother would get the disease and hollowfy as well. The pale Shinigami couldn't imagine how awful that would be. She shook her head. She wouldn't allow Byakuya to hollowfy. Then it happened. The voice came back, the voice that haunted her now in her dreams. Rukia couldn't stand the voice, it pained her for some reason, and it made her afraid.

Her reiatsu began to flacuate heavily, and it took a hard toll on her body. She felt ill just like she had before. It was the symptoms she remembered getting when she was hollowfying. At this, Rukia's eyes widened, she pushed Renji aside and began to run away, shoving her left hand over her left eye. The ebony haired girl felt like she would hollowfy at any moment and she didn't want to hurt her fiancé.

Renji's eyes widened by Rukia's actions, he did take note of her reiatsu but he didn't want to ask any questions in case of her Hollow. He should have known better. Quickly Renji ran after the ebony haired girl, hesitantly placing a hand on Zabimaru's hilt. He hated attacking her, hollowfied or not. But it worked before to get her back to normal, so if he had to, he would fight her.

Rukia looked over her shoulder, seeing that Renji was easily catching up to her. Her terribly thin eyebrows furrowed. "Renji! Go away!" She yelled hoping to get him to leave her be, but Renji continued to chase. "Renji!" Rukia stopped abruptly and she had her gloved hands fall to her sides. Her body was shaking, but she wasn't crying. She just felt heavy and sickly, as though she had the plague, which in a way she did. But Rukia felt like a human plague would probably be less of a pain than this.

Renji stopped behind Rukia and he sighed, his whole body was tense and he didn't want to make any drastic movements. "Rukia…" He whispered softly, he took a step forward slowly and then he took another one. Renji had a soft smile come onto his face as he was now close enough to Rukia to place a hand on her shoulder gently. "I know it hurts, but it'll all be over soon." The redhead lieutenant reassured sweetly.

"Renji…Please go and inform Nii-sama that I'm okay…" Rukia whispered, her voice was barely audible but Renji could hear her. Renji frowned and raised his tattooed brow in confusion. "Tell him now." Her voice was stricter this time.

"What are you talking about Rukia? Do you want me to take you back to the sewers? Do you want to go see Unohana-taichou?" Renji asked as Rukia turned around with her big eyes closed. The redhead frowned and his eyebrows furrowed, he didn't like the girl's posture. It wasn't like her. She was going to do something and he knew it. "Rukia."

Rukia shook her head and her eyes opened, when they did Renji's brown eyes widened a little bit. Her one eye was completely changed, and Rukia looked very ill. "Renji, go do it now. I…Have to go." The short girl turned around and placed a hand on the side of her head, scrunching her black hair in her pale hand. When Renji remained where he was, Rukia clenched her freehand. "Renji, please!"

* * *

"Reign over the Frosted Heavens, Hyourinmaru!" A familiar distorted voice exclaimed, sending an ice dragon out of the blue at both Rangiku and Shuhei. Their eyes both widened and they jumped out of the way just in time before the dragon could have hit them. Rangiku's grey eyes remained wide and she looked up at the rooftop to see her captain there. Her mouth was agape and there was a gasp, which she soon realized was hers. Toshiro jumped down from the roof and roughly landed on the ground, his feet implanting themselves in the ground.

His eyes were like that of a Hollow's and his reiatsu was much darker and heavier. Rangiku was only satisfied with the fact that he hadn't a mask or a hole through his heart of chest yet. Perhaps there was a way she could calm him down and make him change back. It was what seemed to be the only option. The strawberry blonde had to try, for her captain's sake.

Shuhei was about to say something when the building next to him suddenly collapsed. He looked over his shoulder and his eyes widened while his eyebrows furrowed themselves. Through the smoke one could see a familiar figure, the figure that belonged to the lieutenant of squad three. The blonde man walked out of the smoke, he looked completely different then he had before. His eyes were like Toshiro's, and he had a sickeningly large smirk on his face.

"It was a trap this whole time. They were waiting for us." Shuhei growled in frustration while his fists clenched themselves, soon realizing what had just happened. It all made sense; they were going to surround them and attack them at once. The spiky haired man looked over at Rangiku who looked secretly saddened.

Rangiku frowned and eyed her captain's very movements, and so did Toshiro. "Hisagi, if you think we can do it…We should try fighting one on one, I'll fight my captain and you'll fight Kira." The strawberry blonde suggested as she already had her hand placed on her Heineko's hilt. It may have been the only way, and it seemed like a good idea to Rangiku, that way if they were separated the other Hollow Reapers wouldn't be able to surround them and make it an easy kill.

Shuhei scowled and he was going to retort, but then he saw the determined look in his friend's eyes. "Okay…" He whispered, and then he turned to face Izuru, his eyebrows furrowing and his brown eyes narrowing.

Shuhei wasted no time charging at Izuru and he grabbed the blonde man's shoulder tightly and began to run away from Rangiku and Toshiro. _Just be careful…_The ebony haired man thought to himself as he threw Izuru a few blocks away. He used his flash step and was now a few paces away from the hollowfied lieutenant. Shuhei didn't take out his Zanpakuto, but rather raised his hands and he crouched a little bit, getting into a hand-to-hand fighting stance, waiting for Izuru to make his move.

Izuru already had his Zanpakuto released and he was ready to go and attack Shuhei, though for some reason he made no moves. When he didn't, Shuhei lost some tenseness, but he kept up his posture, waiting, knowing that Izuru was hollowfied and that the man would be more willing to attack. It was a little bewildering as to why he didn't yet, but it gave Shuhei a little bit of a reassurance.

The blonde man's body jerked to the left, and then it jerked again. Shuhei was left staring in confusion. Izuru's body jerked to the right again, then he stepped back, though it didn't seem intentional. Izuru's black and gold eyes widened and gripped his sword tighter. His body jerked in all ways the next time and his tainted reiatsu began to pour from his body. Izuru's head shot backwards and Shuhei's eyes widened in confusion, he had no idea what was happening. He hadn't seen this weird process before.

Suddenly, white began to pour out of Izuru's eyes and mouth, shooting up in the air and surrounding his face. Izuru began to scream with his distorted voice, considering it had happened so suddenly. It wasn't as though he was expecting it and it did hurt him a little bit. The white continued to form around his face, covering him up. He had stopped screaming and he moved his sadistic eyes over to Shuhei who had his eyes wide. Izuru had a large smirk on his face and he raised his Zanpakuto to Shuhei.

"You're suddenly scared."

* * *

"Alright, I'm going." Kazumi said while she looked down at her brother who was still lying on the ground, even though he had woken up a little while ago. It had been a few hours since he had passed out, and it felt much more relaxing now that he got the rest he needed. Arata simply nodded and waved Kazumi off, acting as though he wasn't planning anything.

Kazumi nodded as well and with that she used her Sonido to get out of the roof they were on, and she headed off to God knows where. Arata didn't happen to care where she was going; the fact that she was gone was good enough for him. That's all he wanted. As long as Kazumi was out of the area, he could finally open his eyes and sit up, looking out at the destruction of the Soul Society.

What he was going to do was going to be quite amusing, well for him at least. It wasn't anything he wouldn't do on a daily basis. He was simply going to 'go play with meat', as it were. It was a subtle plan, and it wasn't well thought out, but the fact of it all was that it didn't matter if it worked or not. It would still be fun for him to play with his meat a little bit.

Then a thought struck him. He knew he would have to try and keep things as hush hush as possible, to make sure that Kazumi wouldn't go and bombard him. Though, he didn't seem too much care about what Kazumi was doing at the moment. The redhead was far too concerned about what he was going to do, and how exactly he was going to commence the plan, another downfall that he never really thought of.

_It's just a matter of him or…Perhaps _them_ getting to notice me, "casually" walking around…_The redhead thought to himself, his purple eyes flashing as he began to pace on the rooftop, observing many Shinigami vs. Hollow Reaper fights. If he was going to do this it would have to be done carefully so that not all the sane Shinigami were to come and bombard him. That was the last thing that he wanted.

Arata thought about it a bit more and he tilted his head to the side, resting his hand on his tan chin as he began to go more into it. The purple eyed Arrancar then remembered that what he did in the Human World was affective, all he did was attack an innocent human and the Kurosaki's came a running. But there were so many people that Arata could attack without the Kurosaki's knowing, considering there was a lot of tainted reiatsu.

Then, a smile appeared on Arata's features, and his eyes grew dark as the sky began to cloud up with dark grey clouds. He looked up at the dark sky that began to turn a bit of a dark navy blue and he kept his smile, which was full of malice. It was then that he decided that there was one sure way of getting the Kurosaki's attention. One sure way.

He would just have to release his reiatsu.

* * *

And *deep breath* That's the chapter!

What did I say? It's a little MEH in my opinion until near the end. But I jumped scenes a lot here to show different people's observations and etc, trololo~

Don't worry the next chapter will be better!

Reviews are welcome, just no flamers. Thank you.

**TRANSLATIONS:**

**Shinigami= Soul Reaper**

**Reiatsu= Spiritual Pressure**

**Nii-sama= Brother**

**Taichou= Captain**


	12. Chapter 12

**Disclaimer: Bleach belongs Kubo Tite.**

****Welcome back! So it's 12am, I guess I didn't get it done by Monday, trololo. But anyway, I really really like this chapter, and things get WAY more exciting now that this chapter is here! Oh, and to make things more suspenseful, I won't put any end comments, just the Translations, because I'm that cheesy xD Oh and pay attention too, because there's a word that foreshadows A LOT. Trololo~

Reviews are welcome, just no flamers. Thank you and enjoy the feature presentation.

* * *

**SCHERZO Chapter 12**

It had been awhile since Renji and Rukia had gone up to go check up on Byakuya. It had at least been three or four hours, if not longer. It was always hard to tell what time it was when you were down in the sewers, there wasn't much light unless you were to open up one of the flagstone exits. This is what the Kurosaki's usually did to check what time it was. When the light was shining, even if it was only a little bit, they would go up top, and did whatever it was they had planned to do. If it was dark, or the light was getting dark, they would stay in for the night and wait until morning, which was the safe way of getting things done, even if it did waste time.

Ichigo was pacing in the sewers getting a worried look from Hanatarou. He looked rather frustrated, confused and a bit unsure of what to do. Melek watched her brother as her eyebrows furrowed faintly. She knew what he was thinking of doing, and it scared her a little bit, considering that if he was going to do it, it would be dangerous. The orange haired teen's fists were clenched and he was glaring at the ground under his feet, and he felt his eyebrow twitch. It was a matter of him actually going to do it or him not going to do it. He didn't really know what he should do at the time.

Melek stood up and sighed, she dusted off her ebony hakama and she walked over to her brother. He was still pacing, and he didn't look like he would be willing to talk to anyone, not even his sister. But the pale brunette didn't let that stop her. She stayed out of Ichigo's pacing range and she crossed her arms over her chest. "Ichigo…If you want to go then-" She stopped as Ichigo shot her a rather cold look, his posture was different and he almost looked dangerous.

"Would you not? I'm not in the mood for a lecture." The orange spiky haired boy muttered under his breath, and Melek blinked in confusion, frowning a little bit. It wasn't as though she was going to do that, she was just suggesting that they go. It wasn't like Ichigo to just snap at people unless something was really on his mind, or it could have been something else, something that Melek always wished wouldn't happen. Maybe he felt a little bit useless staying in the sewers all night. Or maybe it was something else, something more urgent or dangerous.

There was something different about Ichigo's reiatsu as well, but it still felt the same, just heavier and a little bit darker. Melek felt it was probably because of his frustration; well that's what she had hoped anyway. Once again, Melek sighed and she went to place her pale hand on her brother's shoulder in a relaxing and comforting way, until her brother walked past her. Ichigo paid no mind to his sister and he roughly made his way past Hanatarou and he began to walk to one of the exits.

Not wanting Ichigo to go out there alone, because of the high chance of running into Kazumi and Arata, or even a Hollow Reaper, Melek walked after him. She didn't want to lose anyone else, not Renji, or Rukia again, or Hanatarou, or anyone else that was with their group. Even people outside of their group she didn't want to lose. Even Byakuya and she supposedly disliked him. It was clear though that Renji and Byakuya hadn't gotten affected, but the Kurosaki would still worry like hell about them. At this point, anything seemed to be possible.

"Stay here! I don't want you around me!" Ichigo snapped causing Melek to stop dead in her tracks. Frowning she furrowed her eyebrows and watched Ichigo. At that outburst, it was clear to her that something was wrong. Something more than just Renji and Rukia. Ichigo's tone was different as well, it almost sounded like he was regretting something or like he felt ashamed. Not wanting to patronize him any longer, Melek stayed where she was, and watched as Ichigo left the area.

"Something's wrong with Ichigo-san…He didn't sound like himself…" Hanatarou said when Melek walked back over to him. It confused Hanatarou; he had never really seen Ichigo snap at anyone like that before. If he did he would usually have a reason, and usually that reason would be the best damn reason ever. So, wanting to figure out what was wrong with Ichigo, Hanatarou and Melek began to talk about it.

* * *

_Go away…Leave me alone! _Ichigo yelled in his head as he placed a hand on his forehead, sweating faintly. He knew that what he was doing was risky, considering all the possible things that could happen at any given moment. All it needed to take was the one song, that one little song was all it took, and that's what he feared. But he felt that when he was in the sewers with everyone, and when he began to get more frustrated, his Hollow began to think he was vulnerable, and that was the last thing he wanted.

His Hollow was saying many different taunts to Ichigo, and Ichigo could see his overly large and psychotic smirk, and his crazy black and gold eyes. The orange haired teen was a loyal friend, and was loyal to his family, and so he wanted to make sure he had left the sewers to make sure he wouldn't hurt anyone. He also felt bad whenever he hollowfied and caused innocent people pain. It made him sick, and he hated it.

The next thing he knew, when he looked up at the sky, he saw an all too familiar shape, and it was quite literally the last person he wanted to see for a long time. "Shi-" Ichigo shook his head and hushed himself before he ran and turned a corner, crouching down low and doing his best to conceal his reiatsu. He closed his eyes tightly and he wished that she wouldn't sing, if she did, he didn't stand a chance.

Thankfully for him though, Kazumi hadn't even noticed Ichigo, and she went off in a different direction. The question was what she was doing walking around at the night. Then the orange haired teen thought about it some more, he sweat dropped. She was able to go around Soul Society like nothing, because she could control the Hollow Reapers. Lucky little witch. She had nothing to fear when heading outside, but Ichigo and many other sane Shinigami did. Now that pissed Ichigo right off.

Ichigo slowly stood up and he let out a sigh that was so quiet he bet only a dog could hear it. The teenage substitute walked over to the corner, looked left and right, then he walked out and began to head out, in search of Renji. He didn't have to worry about finding Rukia, considering that the two of them were always with each other. Well, they were usually with each other. It sort of reminded Ichigo of himself and his sister, which made him chuckle in his throat.

It took Ichigo another two hours until he felt Renji's reiatsu close by. It felt normal, so that was a good sign. The only problem was that he didn't feel Rukia's reiatsu. It didn't take long before Ichigo saw the bright hair in the dark night, and he jogged up behind his friend and tapped his shoulder. Renji flinched and he turned around, then he sighed with relief. Ichigo looked over Renji's shoulder and then he circled Renji, causing the older man to sweat drop. Ichigo stopped circling Renji and he stood in front of him, crossing his arms, scowling his usual scowl.

"Ichigo, what the hell was that about? What are you doing here anyway?" The redhead asked as he too crossed his arms over his chest, a little bit annoyed by the teen's odd actions.

Ichigo shook his head ignoring Renji's questions. "Why isn't Rukia with you? Is she with Byakuya at least?" The substitute Shinigami asked, his patients beginning to run dry. He frowned deeper when he saw Renji laugh nervously in his throat and rub the back of his head. "Renji! Where is she?! You were supposed to keep her safe!"

Renji raised his hands and frowned. "Listen! It's what she wanted! She had somewhere to go, and she went!" The redhead snapped back as his tattooed eyebrows furrowed. "I already told the Captain that she was fine. He asked me where she went, and I told him that she was fine. It's what Rukia wanted; I won't stop her from doing what she wants!" Ichigo flinched at this and he etched his eyebrows a little bit, sighing. He understood what Renji was saying, it made sense. You should never stop your loved ones from doing what they want to do. Even if it could be dangerous. When it came down to it, Renji was a really caring and sweet man, especially when it came to Rukia. It almost made Ichigo feel bad for the way he had snapped at his sister earlier.

Ichigo rubbed the back of his orange head and he closed his eyes, dropping his shoulders. "Where is she then? Will she be alright, in all honesty?" He asked he didn't want to lose another person. So many people were being torn apart; there were families that were left with no one but themselves.

Renji smiled softly and nodded. "She'll be fine. That girl has her ways, after all." At this Ichigo smiled a little, and he began to walk past Renji, getting a confused look from the older man. "Where are you going?" Renji asked as he blinked, looking over his shoulder at the boy who continued his way.

Ichigo shrugged and he didn't stop walking, and he didn't look over his shoulder at Renji. He raised his hand waving. "I don't know. See ya." With that he used his flash step to get out of the area entirely, leaving Renji left standing there in confusion.

Renji let out a sigh and he shook his head, he turned back around and he began walking back towards one of the flagstones that lead into the sewers.

* * *

It was around midnight, or perhaps it had been even later than that, but not too much later. Ichigo still didn't go back to the sewers; he was standing on Sogyoku Hill, in pure sight. He wasn't afraid though, it was Sogyoku Hill, and barely anyone went up there unless necessary. The orange haired boy had his hands in his pockets, he had a poker face and he was staring off at the night sky. He took notice of all the destroyed buildings and occasional smoke that puffed up from a building.

He found it rather surprising that anyone could get any rest whatsoever with all the destruction. Perhaps the Soul Society was always prepared in case if a situation were to go too far, like how it was now. The boy was so trapped in his thoughts but it sort of felt nice at night. Even if the air wasn't entirely fresh, considering the occasional smoke, and other things, but it was cool and quiet. If things were safer though, he would probably enjoy it more.

That's when he began to frown. It seemed that the days were just disappearing right under his feet. Things were happening quickly. Much more quickly than what he originally thought. He didn't even realize that he and his sister had been there for a little more than a week, well it was midnight, so nine days. How were they supposed to get anything done when the day disappeared so quickly? It was a tough situation, and things were getting hectic far too quickly.

Ichigo was worried about the Soul Society. More worried than he usually was. He was afraid, secretly afraid, that all of the captains would hollowfy. Even if the song didn't affect then, he presumed that there was another way that Kazumi could infect them, and that's what Ichigo feared. He also feared about what would happen if he were to hollowfy and hollowfy all the way. He cringed to himself and he grit his teeth, remembering what had happened in Hueco Mundo. He hurt Uryu. He almost hurt his sister and Orihime as well. He killed Ulquiorra in an unfair way. The orange haired teen didn't want to have an experience like that ever again. But the boy wouldn't get his hopes up. Ichigo would just have to try as hard as he could to stay sane.

Then, Ichigo began to feel selfish. Anyone could hollowfy at any moment; they could also hurt their family and friends. That was what was happening in the Soul Society as he thought that. Rukia was at risk of killing Byakuya and Renji, though to Ichigo that seemed unlikely. Toshiro could kill Momo or Rangiku. Many things could happen, and Ichigo was concerned about himself only? He felt a little ashamed that he took everyone out and then he sighed, clenching his fists in his hakama pockets.

Ichigo didn't even realize that someone was coming up behind him until he heard the dirt crunch under the person's footsteps. He flinched as the crunching of the dirt stopped. The orange haired teen didn't turn around; he didn't figure that he needed to. After all, he looked like he was in a little bit of pain, in his own way. It wasn't psychical pain though, which was obvious, it was just small psychological pains.

He heard the person rub some fabric, so he presumed that they were rubbing their arm. "I don't care if it's suicidal…" He knew it. The voice was quavering a little bit and it sounded upset. "I don't care if you turn into a monster…" She continued on, causing Ichigo to scowl to himself, his eyebrows furrowing.

Ichigo remained with his back to the person. The orange haired teen didn't want to turn around to see tears in her eyes, or to see them running down her face. Though, it wasn't as though she had been sobbing uncontrollably or anything. It was just that her voice was shaky and she did sound very upset. He could also tell that her body was shaking from the small sounds of her feet rubbing the ground.

"Because the same could be said for me or anyone else…I want to fix this as much as you do, I just don't know what to do!" Something landed on the ground, it was hard to hear, but it made a watery sound and Ichigo scowled deeper and his hands fidgeted. "It all seems so hard…But when I'm with you, I feel a lot better…" That was all she said, nothing else came from her afterwards.

Ichigo turned around and his eyebrows grew less tense, and his scowl did as well. He was right. His sister did have a tear or two drip from her face, and she was shaking and holding her arm. She looked upset but she was smiling. It was another one of her fake smiles. Ichigo ran towards his sister and he wrapped his arms tightly around her frail body, resting his head on top of hers, he lightly ran his hand through her hair gently, and he sighed.

"I'm sorry…" Ichigo whispered quietly, as he gave a light kiss to Melek's forehead. "I didn't mean to scare you."

Melek shook her head laughing a little bit, which made Ichigo a little confused, but he smiled when he heard her laugh. "It's not your fault…We're all feeling it…" The brunette whispered shaking her head. Ichigo chuckled in his throat and shook his head.

* * *

It was the next morning and everyone was back down in the sewers safely. Even Rukia was back and she was well. Her eyes were back to normal as was her reiatsu. The tension between Ichigo and Melek died down and the other Shinigami were way less tense then before. Until they got the news about Rangiku and Toshiro, Izuru and Hisagi. That was a downfall. Ichigo found it hard to believe that he didn't even feel them all fighting when he was up on Sogyoku Hill.

Ichigo's attitude was completely different than it was the other night, well earlier that day. It made everyone in the room relax, and Renji was relieved that Ichigo was doing better than before. He knew when something was up with Ichigo like the back of his hand. Rukia had no idea why things were tense but she didn't let that bother her, she was just happy that everyone was alright, and she was happy that she didn't hurt anyone.

Rukia decided to stay down in the sewers that day though, with Hanatarou and a few others from the fourth squad. She did what she had to do the other day and that was all she wanted to get done. In all honesty, she really couldn't do much else other than make visits to her brother. She had no idea how to knock people back to normal; she didn't even know how her fiancé snapped her out of it.

Renji however couldn't stay down with Rukia, as much as he wanted to. He had to go up and see if he could find Shuhei or Rangiku and help them out before they were to hollowfy, IF they were to hollowfy. It was unknown if they were affected by it or not, it was hard to tell because no one had noticed any changes in them at all. The redhead would go and try to find Ikkaku and Yumichika, but he knew how Ikkaku was in his fights. They were HIS fights, and he didn't want anyone to interfere, and Renji respected that.

The Kurosaki's were leaving though, to head out and try to find the Arrancar's, or their friends who either were or were not sane, to help them out. It was risky though, going to go to find the Arrancar's, but if they wanted to get things done quickly rather than slowly, they had to find them and interrogate them. If fighting them was the only way to do that then it had to be done, as much as the two of them didn't want to fight them. They were probably a lot stronger than they let on as well, which was what was really annoying.

Ichigo and Melek decided that they would go separate ways, that way they would most likely have a better chance of running into Kazumi and Arata, considering that Kazumi had some sort of weird fascination in Melek, that neither Ichigo nor Melek really ever understood. But they pushed that thought to the back of their minds and they went off, waving goodbye to each other.

Ichigo decided that he would head to the other side of the Seireitei, to find Byakuya or someone else that he figured would need help with his squad. He wanted to go help Toshiro and Rangiku as well, but he restrained himself from going to the snowy captain because he knew that that was where Renji would be going. So instead he decided he would check with Byakuya. After all, since Renji was usually underground in the sewers with the group at night, Byakuya didn't really have anyone else to help him out. Not that the noble captain would ever admit needing help. Most of the time he didn't, but if his whole squad were to hollowfy on him, Ichigo knew he would need help, and Ichigo would be right there to help him.

Melek went in the opposite direction of her brother. However, she wasn't going to go around to squads, she had a different plan in mind, a better plan. Well, she thought it was better anyway. The brunette was going to do her best to find either Arata or Kazumi; Kazumi was more of her favourite choice out of the two though, because she stated that she wasn't too strong. But at the same time all she had to do was either sing, or summon her Hollow slaves. Or get her brother to do the fighting.

That was something that Melek had in her mind as well, something that she had been thinking about since she had met both Kazumi and Arata. It seemed that his sister ordered him around a lot, or that's what Melek was getting from it. Also from what Ichigo told her about the way Arata fought, he doesn't take his fights seriously. But Ichigo also mentioned that Arata once told him that his sister would be mad if Arata were to take a fight seriously.

The substitute didn't let that bother her too much. They had their reasons, she guessed, even if they were stupid, bad or otherwise. The only thing that was really important was to keep one or the other busy enough to interrogate them and to capture them for them to tell everyone what the cure was to help heal all the innocent Shinigami who were hollowfying.

There was a good thing about it all though, and that was the fact that the transformation process was slow. That they wouldn't get a Hollow form right away, and if they didn't get a Hollow form, then it would be a lot easier to try to make them change back. Or at least knock some sense into them to make them go back to their proper senses. Another good thing was that no one had to worry about the Vizard captains because they went into hiding to make sure that they wouldn't go and hurt their squad unintentionally.

As Melek was continuing her search, there was a sudden burst of reiatsu. One she had never felt before. It was new and she was worried that it may have been a new enemy. The reiatsu had a dark essence to it, and it was heavy and strong. Not wasting any time, and not wanting any innocent people to get hurt from it, the brunette scowled and she began to use her flash step towards where the odd and dark reiatsu was coming from. A thought crossed her mind though. Maybe it was Kenpachi and he was still hollowfied. Melek shuddered at that thought. Kenpachi was the last person she wanted to fight. However, the pale girl didn't let fear or common sense hold her back. She continued to flash step to the area.

As quickly as the reiatsu came it was gone, just like that and nothing was felt of it. Not even a small morsel of it was left. It was pretty frustrating and the brunette found herself at a crossroads, if one would call it that. It was more like two paths diverged from a building or two that had collapsed, and there was only two ways to go.

The brunette thought about it for a minute and she decided to go to the left, and she made her movements quick to see who, or rather what the reiatsu belonged to. Soon her foot stomped on the ground as she came to an abrupt stop. The brunette was disgusted by what she saw before her, disgusted, disturbed and over all angry. She could feel her blood boil and it made her sick.

"It's you." Melek muttered coldly her eyes narrowing and her brown eyebrows furrowing themselves deeply. At least she found someone she was looking for, but she didn't want to see him like that. Arata was carving up a Hollow Reapers body, practically disecting it. It was a horrible sight. Arata threw the carcass off to the side and he faced to the Kurosaki grinning.

"Hello, Kurosaki-girl. Hisash…No, I guess it hasn't been that long." The redhead looked a bit sadistic and his expression face and posture was different than before. Darker even. Darker and much more serious. It confused the brunette, but she didn't look confused, she looked more angry than confused.

Arata was hoping for the other Kurosaki, but he could still have fun with Melek. He usually did, after all, she was a Kurosaki, and Kurosaki's got annoyed easily. So he thought. It was something he took notice of. For some reason, he had a feeling he would enjoy this quite a bit. Without wasting any time, he grabbed his blue hilted Zanpakuto, and he charged at Melek. Melek quickly unsheathed her Jitsugetsu and she blocked Arata's attack, glaring at him.

Melek glided her blade off of Arata and aimed for his chest, however Arata blocked her attack and sent his sword through Melek's shoulder, causing the brunette to wince and furrow her brows. Melek jumped back a little bit and she gripped her Zanpakuto's hilt tighter. She began to run back towards Arata, a Suta Senko wrapping around her blade. She gave Arata a fierce look as she came at him. "Suta Senko!"

The attack flashed towards Arata making a large and deep crack in the ground, sending debris flying from the ground. Arata side stepped out of the way quickly, only getting a burn on his arm and getting some of his sleeve torn. Arata charged at Melek and he thrust his sword towards her chest. Quickly, Melek ducked out of the way and she went to slice at Arata's side, but the older man blocked quickly.

The two made some space between each other and they began to close in on each other again. Arata took note of the enraged look Melek had on her face, and he figured it was because of what he did to the Hollow Reaper. Soon they clashed swords again and Arata pulled his Zanpakuto back and he jabbed it towards Melek's head. Melek's eyes were a little wide and she moved to the side, but Arata's attack still grazed her cheek.

Melek narrowed her dark brown eyes and she sent her over-sized Zanpakuto towards Arata's chest, cutting him only a little bit. Arata jumped back and before Melek knew his signature bright yellow cero was going right towards her.

Melek gulped and her eyes widened, she raised Jitsugetsu quickly to block the attack. "BANKAI!" The brunette yelled as the cero was crashing down into her. There was a cloud of smoke, a large cloud of it. Melek was transformed into her Bankai now and she gripped her sword with her bandaged hands.

The brunette charged towards Arata again, seemingly unaffected by the attack that he sent, minus a few burns she had and small cuts on her chest and face. Melek went to swing her sword at Arata, but Arata was suddenly gone and behind her. The substitute scowled and she turned around, swinging her sword at the redhead Arrancar quickly and harshly. Arata charged up a small yellow cero and he blocked the attack. Out of the small bits of smoke that was there, Arata's hand reached out and grabbed Melek's shoulder.

Melek's eyes widened and she was suddenly thrown and smashed into the concrete bellow her, and when she was slammed in the ground it caused debris to fly up from how hard she was slammed in the ground. Arata was smiling sadistically as he kept his hand grabbed on Melek's right shoulder. Melek looked angry still and she reached her hand out to try and grab Arata to drag him down, but Arata pushed her hand to the side with his wrist.

"It's disappointing. I thought you would put up more of a fight."

It was true. Arata was pretty disappointed; he figured that forcing Melek into her Bankai would give her a better chance. Nevertheless. He frowned and looked disappointed, and he grabbed his Zanpakuto. Melek's dark brown eyes widened. Arata then slammed his sword right through Melek's neck.

* * *

**TRANSLATIONS:**

**Shinigami= Soul Reaper**

**Reiatsu= Spiritual Pressure**

**Hisash(iburi da)= It's Been awhile**


	13. Chapter 13

**Disclaimer: Bleach belongs to Kubo Tite.**

****Welcome back to Scherzo at long last! It's been awhile, sort of. I had a whole lot of fun writing this chapter. The next couple chapter's will be rather busy, of course, hehe. So enough babbling, let's go!

Reviews are welcome, just no flamers. Thank you and enjoy the feature presentation.

* * *

**SCHERZO Chapter 13**

Ichigo was at the squad six barracks, carrying a box of tools and other supplies. It seemed as though he was right about Byakuya needing help, even though the noble man protested such a thing. After Ichigo inquired that the man really did need help, Byakuya put his pride away for the one time and he allowed Ichigo to help him. Even though all Ichigo was doing was carrying supplies and helping rebuild some of the destroyed barracks. That was all Ichigo was allowed to do though, Byakuya managed everything else on his own.

As Ichigo was making his way over to Byakuya to give him the tools, he stopped and his eyebrows furrowed themselves. He looked over his shoulder and he looked rather confused. Melek's reiatsu was gone. It just disappeared. It was like a light switch was switched off. _Melek's reiatsu is gone…_The orange haired teen thought to himself, his chocolate brown eyes began to grow a little wide. _Where is she?! _It had only been at least fifteen minutes since the two of them had left the sewers. Melek wouldn't go back down until the job was done, Ichigo knew this.

Byakuya turned a little as he noticed that Ichigo had stopped moving. "Kurosaki Ichigo." The ebony haired captain simply prodded, waiting for some sort of response from the younger boy.

Ichigo's hands began to feel numb as his worry over came his body and mind. Ichigo dropped the box of supplies he was carrying and he turned around fully, facing the other direction. With a flash he was gone, the only thing was left was the heavy gush of wind that came from his flash step, and a small streak in the ground from where he took off.

* * *

Arata left his sword stabbed through the pale brunette's neck, and he looked at her dead, wide brown eyes. The tan man rested his hand on the end of his sword's hilt, and he put his other hand on his hip. He moved his purple orbs away from the Kurosaki and he scratched the side of his head.

"Damn it…Kazumi-nee-san is going to be pissed." The Arrancar sweat dropped and he knew that his sister would be angry, and then because of that, he would get yet another scolding. "She had a lot of plans for you, girl. But I'm sure she can find some fun with your brother." Arata looked down at the dead girl and tilted his head to the side a little bit.

The older man mentally face palmed himself and he sweat dropped again. Maybe he should have thought of a better and less violent plan. Arata crossed his arms and sighed. There was nothing he could do now. He killed the Kurosaki and that was all there was to it. Kazumi would just have to deal with it.

"MELEK!"

Arata blinked his purple orbs and he looked over across the area and he grinned. Then again, maybe this was a good way to get Ichigo to come. Now he didn't feel any remorse, even if his sister would scold him. The Arrancar continued to keep his sword through the female's Kurosaki neck, and he kept his grin, his taunting and cruel grin. Once again, like before, he started to get amused and excited, and like before, he felt like he was going to have some more fun.

The look that Ichigo had on his face couldn't be described with words. His face was filled with anger and sadness, he looked ready to go on a murder spree, but he also looked ready to scream his heart out in sorrow. The orange haired teen stood there, with his chocolate brown eyes wide and mixed with emotions. He was stuck between anger and sorrow. The boy had quiet and shaky breaths coming from his partly opened lips and his eyebrows were furrowed. His reiatsu began to fluctuate harshly.

The Arrancar raised his red brow. "Kurosaki, I was disappointed. Even in her Bankai she didn't do anything." Arata began in a mocking and taunting tone. The redhead took note of the younger boy's expression and he was getting secretly excited, more and more by the second. "What's wrong? You seem…Upset."

Ichigo didn't know why. But those words set him off. Ichigo's eyes widened some more and he tightly gripped Zangetsu's hilt. "BANKAI!" His scream echoed out throughout the canopy of the Soul Society, and the anger and sorrow could be heard clearly in his voice. It was like looking in the water and seeing a reflection, you could see it clearly.

As Ichigo transformed from his shikai to Bankai, his reiatsu exploded from his body. As it did, he sent up rubble from the ground from how much impact his exploded reiatsu had. The orange spiky haired boy gripped his sword in his right hand tightly, and his reiatsu began to rise higher and higher. While his reiatsu was rising, Ichigo let out a long and agonized scream, and as he did, Arata began to laugh, he withdrew his sword from Melek's neck and he got ready.

Suddenly, Arata felt a hand on his shoulder though, but he felt no reiatsu, so he figured it was from Kazumi. That's what he had thought at first. Until he heard the voice. "Hm…Well, it should start disappearing by now…" That voice. That damned voice. Arata's eyes widened and he swung his sword whilst he turned around, but the person jumped off to the side and placed her hand on her hip, holding her sword in the other hand, she was smiling.

Arata's purple eyes were wide and he couldn't believe what he was seeing. It was her. But it was impossible. He killed her. He stabbed his sword right through her neck. "How in the hell are you alive?! I killed you!" The Arrancar yelled in confusion and anger, then he looked down at the body, and his eyes widened more. It began to disappear, just like what Melek had said it would.

Melek grinned and she raised her hand, waving Arata off. "How am I still alive? I ask myself that every morning." The pale brunette joked, but then she reached into her Bankai shihakusho and she pulled out a small black orb, it almost looked like chewing gum, or a marble. "But the answer to how I'm alive this time is this." Melek held up the black object and Arata eyed it, not quite sure as to what it was supposed to be.

Melek threw the orb into her mouth and she gulped, swallowing it. Then, there she was. There was two of her. The brunette held up her look a like and she smiled, patting its head. "It's a portable gigai! I asked Urahara-san to make a few for me in case of any surprise attacks. All I have to do is swallow it and it takes my place." The substitute explained, and then she placed the body on the ground and grabbed her Tensa Jitsugetsu. "Then when you cut it, like this…" She trailed off as she stabbed the gigai, and as she did, it slowly began to disappear. "It'll disappear. When you sent your cero I was surprised. Just now, when I switched with the gigai, did you notice the difference?" Melek asked grinning, clearly referring to when she had swallowed the orb the first time, when Arata had suddenly fired his yellow cero at her.

The Arrancar grit his teeth in annoyance. He couldn't believe that he was deceived with such a subtle trick. It was shameful. Even if the gigai had the same reiatsu, the same stature and voice and everything in between, he couldn't believe that such a simple thing could have deceived him. It made him angry, and now he couldn't even enjoy the victory have having supposedly killed a Kurosaki.

Right as Arata went to attack the brunette, a large and powerful black Getsuga Tenshou was shot right towards the two of them. Well, more like the middle of them. It separated Arata from Melek, and both of their eyes widened, not quite expecting that. Then there was another one, but it was directed at Arata this time. Having no time to counter, Arata just raised his sword and was pushed back a few ways, getting burns on his arms and hands, while he left a large streak in the ground from being pushed back.

Ichigo wasted no time rushing towards Arata, his eyes filled with an enraged look. His movements were quick and harsh and when he was in the older man's range he swung his Tensa Zangetsu at the man. The redhead Arrancar blocked the attack but just barely. He glided his Zanpakuto away from Ichigo's and he cut the orange haired teen's chest. Ichigo jumped back and then he jabbed his own sword through Arata's shoulder effectively, not letting his chest wound getting the better of him.

The two began to clash swords left and right, and surprisingly both of them ended up getting cuts on each other, some deep, others not too deep. Ichigo still had a look of rage and he looked like he really wanted to snap Arata's head off his body. Arata was somewhat enjoying himself, and even though he was excited he was taking the battle seriously for a change.

Melek took a step forward and she furrowed her eyebrows watching the fight. "Ichigo! Ichigo, calm down! You know you can't fight when you're angry!" The brunette called to her brother, but Ichigo and Arata kept attacking each other like no tomorrow, blocking and countering each other's attacks. "Ichigo, if you-"

"Stay out of this!" The orange haired teen shouted as he looked over at his sister, chocolate brown eyes wide, orange eyebrows furrowed and anger written all over his face. Melek understood, but it didn't help the situation. Melek feared if Ichigo let his reiatsu slip a little more, then his Hollow would think he's vulnerable, and that wouldn't help anything.

Arata took Ichigo's distraction to his advantage and he jumped forward, towards the boy, and he jammed his hand deeply into Ichigo's chest. Ichigo cringed and he looked down at Arata's hand, blood began to seep from Ichigo's wound, and to make the wound worse, the Arrancar tugged downward and he tore open Ichigo's chest a little bit, causing the younger man to let out an agonized scream.

Ichigo grunted as some blood came from his mouth but he shook his head. He would just have to do his best to ignore the open chest wound. Arata gripped his sword again and he went to thrust his sword through Ichigo's wound, but Ichigo quickly managed to block the attack. The orange haired teen sliced across Arata's chest while a Getsuga was wrapped around it, causing Arata to get a chest wound as well. The two of them clashed swords and they made distance between each other.

The two of them continued to make deep cuts on each other from that point. Ichigo had a few more cuts on his chest and some cuts on his face, while Arata had his shoulder practically mangled from when Ichigo thrust his sword through the man's shoulder while releasing a Getsuga Tenshou. All the while Ichigo's reiatsu never changed, it only grew darker and stronger with every attack the two of them made to each other.

Ichigo began to get more sadistic as well and much more violent. His chocolate brown eyes were wide with malice and the intent to kill. The boy wanted so bad to just destroy the Arrancar. He didn't care if they needed answers, after all Kazumi was still a live, they could always ask her. But Arata. Arata was officially on Ichigo's hit list, he wanted Arata to be the first one to go.

Arata was amused by it all, but with the more attacks that they landed on each other the more he became serious. The redhead jumped back and he raised his Zanpakuto, blood dripping off of his chin, shoulder and chest. While there was some distance between the two of them, Arata noticed that Melek had called out a warning to her brother. The redhead scowled to himself, the Kurosaki female was making things too cautious for his liking.

Ichigo turned towards his sister again and he looked crazed. The orange haired teen had a terribly large smirk on his face, and black began to make its way into his right eye. He began to walk towards Melek, and he began laughing, but his laugh was different. It was distorted and dry, dry and crazy. Melek frowned and raised her Bankai sword getting ready to defend herself. As Ichigo was continuing his way Arata took a step forward as well.

"Kurosaki!" He yelled and Ichigo stopped and looked over at the Arrancar, his expression remaining the same. Arata held his sword out in front of him and he turned it on its side, keeping it pointed towards Ichigo. "Disappear…Hideki!" It happened. It finally happened. He released his Zanpakuto. Ichigo stared and waited, his smirk disappearing while his right eye fully turned black and gold. All there was was a cloud of smoke, a large grey cloud of smoke. Ichigo expected to see Arata bolt out of it, but he didn't.

Ichigo tilted his head to the side and he took a step forward. It was odd. The grey smoke began to float towards him, but Arata was no where in sight. Nothing was there; it was like a magic trick you would see on a television show. The smoke surrounded Ichigo and Ichigo's vision began to blur suddenly. The orange haired teen swiped at the smoke with his Tensa Zangetsu, but to no avail. He called out to Melek, asking what was going on, but he didn't really know if he did or not. The boy couldn't hear anything. He couldn't hear a thing, and his body began to feel numb.

He tried to call out again but he still couldn't hear, so he really had no idea if he was saying anything. The orange haired teen began staggering away as the smoke disappeared. Ichigo turned in the direction of his sister but it was hard to tell if she was there, his vision was getting blurrier and blurrier. Then he shook his head. His hands fell to his sides and he saw darkness.

Melek ran towards her brother and she reverted back into her shikai. She sheathed her sword on her back again and she grabbed her brother's shoulders, shaking him lightly. "Oi! Ichigo!" The brunette yelled in worry. Melek's eyes widened a little as suddenly Ichigo's body collapsed. The orange haired teen landed on his knees and his arms were draped over his sister's shoulders, his head lowered. _Damn it…What did that bastard do?!_

Not too long after Ichigo had past out, many of the sane Shinigami captains and lieutenants were in the area, surrounding the two Kurosaki's. Melek frowned as she looked over at everyone, somewhat confused as to why they were all there. Rukia and Renji were there, Byakuya and a few others. Byakuya was the first one to speak out of everyone there, and Rukia made no eye contact with Melek as he did so.

"We are to take Kurosaki Ichigo to prison." The noble man began strictly and quietly, his voice calm and his face stoic as it usually was.

"Wh-What? What are you saying…?" Her quiet voice asked in almost a whisper as she found it hard to find her voice and the right words to say. She and her brother had somewhat finished a fight, it was more like the enemy screwed with her brother's head, causing him to go a little bit crazy, so it seemed, then after the enemy released his Zanpakuto, he disappeared. The brunette didn't know why it took them so long to get there, but when they did, they told her what they were really there for, which confused her greatly. Her orange haired brother was still unconscious from going a little out of it, and was on his knees, arms draping on top of his sister's as his head hung down lightly while she held him closely.

His grey eyes were closed like they usually were, the normal calm expression remaining on his face. "Kurosaki Melek…Orders are orders." The ebony haired man remarked as he now opened the grey eyes as he looked down at the pale brunette nonchalantly. He was always the one to follow orders and do what was right, especially if it had to do with his pride which he had a lot of.

Whipping her head over to her best friend, Rukia, she furrowed her eyebrows and looked at the short ebony haired woman. "R-Rukia?!" Melek asked in confusion a bit of obvious hurt in her voice. Rukia was a vice-captain now, which meant that she knew about the orders that were beginning to take place before them. Rukia didn't say anything as she only moved her violet big eyes to the side, letting out a quiet sigh, deciding it was best to just keep her mouth shut, not wanting to hurt her best friend more than she already was. "Renji you too?! You can't be serious you guys!" The substitute Shinigami exclaimed, anger escaping into her voice as she glared at the couple.

Renji only sighed and rubbed the back of his head sighing as he moved his brown eyes down to the brunette, knowing she would only get more angry and protective. "I'm sorry but I…I do agree with the orders this time…He practically went crazy…" The redhead remarked as he lowered his hand by his side again, shaking his head in disapproval to Melek's behaviour to the situation.

This is when Byakuya took another step forward and continued on. "We cannot risk him hollowfying and losing all control. He does, and there could be many casualties in which we are not going to tolerate. Kurosaki Ichigo will be taken to prison." The squad six captain explained as he now had a much colder look lying on the much younger brunette before him. "It's Head Captain Yamamoto's orders." The man stated with a nod and quiet sigh, annoyed with Melek's reaction to this entirely.

Melek protectively held the back of her orange spiky haired brother's head and wrapped her other arm around the older boy's waist, glaring at all the captains there, along with Rukia and Renji who were her good friend's. In this situation, she hadn't really cared who she was glaring at; she refused to let anybody touch her brother, especially when he would need her after the experience he had just gone through. The enemy, the Arrancar, did something to Ichigo that made him like that, it wasn't Ichigo's fault.

"I won't let you take him away!" Melek yelled in anger her voice having a bit of a warning tone as the captains began to walk in on her. She knew these captains' would obey the orders no matter what. But that didn't mean she would just sit there and allow her brother to get taken from her. She couldn't carry him, and she couldn't run in this state, but if she could make it seem like she would hurt them, maybe then they would've just left her alone.

"Melek please…Don't make it harder than it already is…" Rukia called to her quietly from off to the side with her boyfriend, not wanting to take place in this. It was bad enough for her that she was there, but she wouldn't actually take place in the taking of the brunette's brother. It would be hard for the both of them to face such a thing.

"No Rukia!" The pale girl snapped again, only getting more protective and angry as she glared over at her short haired friend. "I won't let them take him!" Melek continued on, an almost desperate look in her face as she said this, not wanting to lose her brother in anyway whatsoever, after all, it was her worst nightmare. Before anything else could be said, and before any movements were made, the Head Captain himself was behind the brunette, his hand on his cane, his eyes closed. Melek's eyes widened as she looked over her shoulder at the old man, her eyebrows slightly etched.

The old man opened his eyes a little bit, a cold look in them as he stared down coldly to the young female before him. "I am here for Kurosaki Ichigo." The squad one captain stated his voice gruff and serious along with his expression. His disposition was quite frightening too as he was much stronger than Melek and he could easily defeat her if she tried to fight.

"No! NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!"

* * *

It was an hour after that scene took place, and Renji, Melek and members of squad four were in Ichigo's prison cell, healing his injuries. Renji and Melek were ordered to stay outside of the cell and to let the squad four members take care of him. So while Melek was watching Ichigo getting healed, Renji looked down at her and sighed. "What happened, Melek?" He asked with a frown on his face, noticing the upset look she had in her eyes.

Melek looked up at Renji hesitantly, not wanting to get her eyes off her brother, but she knew it was polite to look at someone when they were speaking to you, even though she was never one for formalities. "We were fighting Arata and-"

"AUUUUGGGGGGHHHHHHH!" Ichigo screamed in pain, as the squad four members began to work on his chest wound. Melek flinched and Renji placed a hand on Melek's shoulder while taking her outside of the prison all together, closing the door behind them.

"Arata did something to him…I don't know what he did but…Something happened and…" Renji simply nodded, not needing Melek to continue what she was saying, he could tell that it was hard for her to talk about it at the moment. Everything happened so suddenly and when things happened so quickly it would be hard for anyone to talk about it with a stable tone and state.

* * *

It felt like it had been an eternity. If not longer. Much longer. But in all reality it had been a little over a month since the fight with Arata. Ichigo was still in prison and was not allowed any visitor's, not even his sister could see him. Rangiku was in a bad state because of the fight she had with Toshiro, along with Shuhei, but he wasn't nearly as wounded as Rangiku was. Izuru had gone off on a killing spree, and he ended up killing a few innocent squad members from random squads.

Alev and Momo hadn't been heard of during the month, so no one knew if either one of them were alive or not. Kenpachi was still unconscious, but thankfully in a stable state. Rukia had hollowfied every once in awhile, but Renji was quick to act and he knocked her out of it quickly. Yumichika was unconscious and in the squad four barracks while Ikkaku was getting surgery done on his arm which was practically mauled off while he was fighting Yumichika.

The remaining group members were forced to retreat to above because Hanatarou soon began to hollowfy shortly after the fight the Kurosaki's had with Arata. No one knew how he was affected, it had happened so suddenly. They knew they had to get out of there before Hanatarou were to kill them. Thankfully though, Hanatarou didn't end up killing anyone, he only ended up hurting a few members lightly.

During the month that past Melek ended up running into Kazumi once again. Kazumi had kept asking repeatedly if Melek was ready to be friends with her yet, but Melek was still as defiant as ever, even after the incident with Arata. The two ended up fighting it out a little bit, and the results didn't end very well for Melek. She got close to hollowfying and Kazumi had ended up doing some hand-to-hand combat on her, almost breaking her arm and a few other limbs in the process, but Melek left unscathed in that way. She mostly only had bruises on her arms and legs, and she felt very sore.

Arata was waiting for Kazumi on a rooftop and when Kazumi arrived, she sat down next to him, smiling. Looking out at the destroyed Seireitei. It was a beautiful sight to the two, and while Kazumi was sitting there she began to think about a few things. She got many people to hollowfy, which she was pleased with, but she had no idea that the situation would go as far as it had. She hadn't planned on letting it get as far as she did, but she began to enjoy it as a thought struck her.

"You know something?" The ebony haired girl asked as she looked over at her younger brother. Arata looked back at her and he raised his eyebrow, sort of curious. "I just realized that I don't care what happens to them." She smiled, and then an image of Melek flashed through her head. She looked out at the horizon again and kept her smile. "To any of them."

* * *

And that's the chapter!

Ah yes. So for those of you who pay really damn good attention, the word that foreshadowed "Melek's death" in the beginning of the Arata fight was "Gulp" because of the portable gigai! I know, I'm a troll, I try my hardest. xD Also we finally get to see why Ichigo went crazy, because if you remember, in the first chapter I showed the scene where the captain's come take him away. No one knew why at the time. Well. Now you know~

And yes, there is a one month time skip, it's sort of crucial for how things are going to go for the next upcoming chapters. GAHHHHH. Things are getting exciting now.

Reviews are welcome. Just no flamers. Thank you~

**TRANSLATIONS:**

**Shinigami= Soul Reaper**

**Reiatsu= Spiritual Pressure**

**Nee-san= Sister**


	14. Chapter 14

**Disclaimer: Bleach belongs to Kubo Tite.**

****Hello everyone! I would like to sincerely apologize for taking so long to upload this! I didn't mean for it to take so long, I just got distracted and busy with a billion of things. I would like to thank you all for sticking with me though and being patient, you guys are awesome! I'll do my best to upload faster, it all depends if I get distracted or not xD So I made this one a little bit longer for you guys because you had to wait so long!

Reviews are welcome. Just no flamers. Thank you and enjoy the feature presentation.

* * *

**SCHERZO Chapter 14**

Ichigo groaned and he slouched against the stone cold wall that was in the prison cell he was in. The orange haired teen felt like he had been in there for years, trapped and alone. He was given water every day, and food, but the food that the people brought him wasn't very appetizing so he didn't eat much of it. His wounds had recovered well enough for him to move around in the cell, but it wasn't as though he could actually do anything. His Zanpakuto was contained elsewhere and when he tried to make small talk with the guards, they would ignore him.

_Another day…How long has it been?_ Ichigo thought to himself, frowning and half closing his chocolate brown eyes. He had a memory of when he and his sister arrived in Soul Society, and then another memory flashed of when the two of them had been reunited after they had been separated for a while. Ichigo didn't know what was worse. Being in a cell and alone, or being in a cell and not having any idea of what was happening on the outside.

Ichigo sighed as he crawled over to the bars and he lightly shook them. "Excuse me, guards…" His voice was rather quiet and it sounded a little bit weak. The guards ignored him, and Ichigo frowned and lightly shook the bars again. "Guards…" The orange haired teen whispered with an inaudible sigh.

One of the guards looked over his shoulder, and he glared at Ichigo in annoyance. He turned around and faced the young teenager and he lightly tapped his stick on the ground. "Yeah, what do you want?" He asked gruffly, and Ichigo scowled with the tone and look that he was receiving from the guard. The guard looked a little impatient, but he mostly looked rude and tired. He was probably tired from having to watch Ichigo all day, not that he ever actually looked at the boy.

"What's happening out there…Do you know?" The orange haired teen asked as he lightly placed his hot forehead on the cold prison cell bars. Ichigo started feeling uneasy as he asked the question, but he didn't seem to know why. His head just began pounding repeatedly it must have been his anxiety. The guard sighed and Ichigo looked up at him tiredly, waiting for him to give him some sort of real answer, not a sigh.

"We've been getting reports every night about things that have been happening. It isn't looking good. Most of the squads have been struck with the disease. Some of squad four hollowfied, and a few lieutenants and third seats are in very bad shape." The guard explained and Ichigo's eyes widened a little bit at the news. He went on to ask about Renji, Rukia, and his sister. The guard shook his head. "Lieutenant Abarai is alright. Lieutenant Kuchiki has been hollowfying on and off. Kurosaki-san had apparently run into the Arrancar and lost, no one has seen her since the day she lost."

Ichigo furrowed his eyebrows as his chocolate brown eyes widened a little bit more. It wasn't possible. Who did she fight? Was it Arata again? Or maybe it was Kazumi, but he remembered that Melek told him that Kazumi wasn't that strong. So Melek must have run into Arata. But no one had seen her since then. Worry began to overtake Ichigo as he couldn't do much of anything in the state he was in. He couldn't help Rukia, or Renji, or his sister or anyone. He was useless now. Ichigo crawled back over to the wall and he slouched against it again, placing his hand on his head, his eyes remaining wide. He could do nothing.

* * *

It had happened again. Rukia was hollowfied, but there was something much different about her this time than any other time. Her reiatsu was much heavier and stronger; it was also far more darker than what Renji had experienced before. Rukia laughed evilly as she ran towards Renji, swinging her pure white released Zanpakuto at the older man.

Renji frowned as he blocked the attack as he jumped back a few paces from Rukia. There was something different aside from her reiatsu. Her movements seemed sluggish and heavy. A bit more powerful than before. The redhead blocked another attack that Rukia had sent at him and he pushed her back, making some space between them again. Renji feared that perhaps the disease was spreading throughout her body faster, why else would she be hollowfying so much? He narrowed his brown orbs and moved out of the way.

Rukia grinned and her eyes looked crazy. Her entire expression looked crazy, but her gold and black eyes were the worst. The ebony haired girl had so many dark lines under her eyes, and her gold irises were wide, and her black thin eyebrows were furrowed. She looked like she was a crazy person walking out of an asylum. Rukia ran towards Renji again, swinging her sword to his side. Renji frowned deeper as he simply backed away from Rukia.

Renji always regretted hurting her, but it had seemed as though he had no choice in the matter. Unfortunately for him, he would just have to suck it up and attack her back. He would have to try to knock her unconscious again, like what he usually did. The redhead pulled out his Zanpakuto and he pointed it towards Rukia, who only laughed psychotically.

"About time, Renji!" Her distorted voice cackled and she jumped towards the man. Renji blocked her attack and he sweep kicked Rukia to the ground. He implanted his foot lightly on her stomach and he pointed his sword to her forehead. Rukia's gold eyes widened a little bit more, and she seemed to actually be afraid. Until, she laughed again and she placed her gloved hand out in front of her. A red cero began to form from the palm of her hand.

Renji's eyes widened and he quickly jumped off of the girl, but the cero still ended up burning the left side of his body. Renji groaned but he quickly got back into a defensive stance as Rukia and him clashed swords together again. The redhead tried to ignore the fact that Rukia fired a cero and he struck her side affectively cutting her. Rukia grunted but she jumped back and she began to stab her sword in the ground.

She did this five times before she raised her sword, pointing it vertically at Renji. "Tsugi no Mai! Hakuren!" Ice began to rush towards Renji. Renji frowned and he raised his sword, quickly he released his Zanpakuto and he swung it towards the oncoming ice. The redhead affectively cut the attack in half, but it seemed that his Zabimaru was trapped in between the ice that he struck. Renji cursed to himself and he tried to pull his Zanpakuto out.

Rukia laughed as she was suddenly above Renji, forming another cero in her hands. She didn't give Renji to opportunity to attack or to make any sort of move. The ebony haired girl fired the bright red cero making a large explosion erupt as it collided down below.

Thankfully however, Renji had released his Zanpakuto and managed to faintly block the attack that Rukia had sent. He had some burns on him and ice sliced his face a little bit and it made his cheek sting a little. It wasn't much pain, Renji could take much more and he would. Renji back away from Rukia and he began to swing his Zanpakuto in the air. He didn't want to hurt her, but it looked like there was no other way. Rukia had completely lost her mind it seemed and if Renji wanted her back he would have to knock the Hollow out of her. He always did regret hurting his fiancé though, even if she had gone crazy and lost her mind. He did love her after all, and it was never easy to hurt a loved one.

Rukia readied her legs as she placed her arms out in front of her. In her right hand, she held her Zanpakuto, and her other hand had two fingers pointing upwards, as if she was going to use Kido. It seemed that she was ready to use either one of those techniques. Her expression hadn't changed much either. It was still psychotic and not the face that Renji knew or loved. Rukia looked like she had been pulled out of a mental asylum and it brought pain to Renji's heart. He would have to ignore it though; he had to be strong for Rukia so that she could fight the Hollow within her.

Renji let out a quiet sigh and he opened his eyes. The brown orbs looked determined and ready for anything._ Alright…I'm ready now. Come at me! _Renji thought as he gripped his Zanpakuto in his hands harshly. Rukia and Renji stared each other down. Rukia had that sadistic and calm smirk on her face while Renji had a determined frown on his own face. Simultaneously, the two Shinigami ran towards each other, and with a distorted and normal battle cry, they clashed their swords against each other. Yellow and orange spiky erupted from the impact of the metal. The two Shinigami leaned in against each other and glared at one another.

Rukia laughed and she glided her Sode No Shirayuki off of Renji's Zabimaru, making some space between them. Rukia then swiped her pure snow white blade towards Renji's chest, and she ended up cutting him affectively. Renji winced, but it didn't hurt him that much. The redhead lieutenant slammed his Zanpakuto down at Rukia and the blade entered her shoulder, causing the hollowfied Shinigami to widen her gold and black eyes. She winced and narrowed her abnormal eyes and then she placed a gloved hand on Renji's larger blade that was implanted in her shoulder. Then Rukia laughed and she threw her hand out in front of her, confusing Renji.

"Hado no. 33! Soukatsui!" Rukia's hollowfied voice shouted as a bright white and blue Kido formed in her hands. Renji narrowed his eyes and he quickly jumped out of the way, thrusting his Zabimaru out of Rukia's shoulder while doing so. The Kido had been fired, and now that Zabimaru was out of Rukia's shoulder it gave her a better advantage, especially now that she could move freely. However, her shoulder had still been in pain because of Renji's attack.

The two Shinigami began to circle each other. One hand on their blades, the other hand out and ready for extra work. Rukia narrowed her gold and black eyes while Renji kept his eyes calm and cold towards his hollowfied fiancé. Rukia suddenly disappeared from Renji's sight and she was now a few feet above him in the air. Renji scowled as he looked up to see a laughing Rukia thrusting her Zanpakuto down at Renji's head. Renji sidestepped out of the way, causing Rukia to slam her sword in the ground instead. She growled as she withdrew it from the ground, sending rubble up in the air.

"Give it up, Hollow. You don't belong in Rukia's soul. Get out." Renji muttered as he backed a few paces away from Rukia. _Come on, Rukia! Fight the Hollow! _Renji thought as he could only imagine what sort of pain Rukia had been going through the whole time she was hollowfied.

"I prefer to go by the name of "Shiroruki", Abarai." Rukia retorted with an annoyed tone in her distorted voice. Renji looked a little bit surprised at that. He knew that Ichigo and Melek's Hollows had name's, he had no idea that Rukia's had one though. Then he figured that everyone deserved some sort of name, Hollow or not. Renji was snapped out of his thoughts when Rukia laughed. "Besides, Rukia-chan is asleep right now. She can't fight me."

Renji glared at Rukia in anger and frustration. How dare the Hollow make fun of Rukia! "Do not insult her!" Renji yelled as his tattooed eyebrows furrowed. Rukia grinned widely, knowing that she had hit a nerve. Renji let out a battle cry and he charged at Rukia, swinging Zabimaru at her.

* * *

Byakuya looked out the window in his neatly organized office. He had a cold stare but he seemed stoic. The reiatsu that had been going off was of people he knew and cared about. He would never admit out loud that he was ever worried for anyone, not even Rukia, but he was. Even if it only was a little, he was still a little bit worried. Especially because he felt Rukia's reiatsu go dark and Hollow again. It wasn't something he had been fond of, considering that Rukia did no such thing to deserve her Inner Hollow to awaken. He had entrusted Renji to take care of her as well, but it didn't seem that it was exactly the best choice on his behalf.

He was okay with the fact that they were engaged and he accepted it with surprising open arms. After he threatened Renji to treat her well and keep her safe and never leave her, of course. He couldn't exactly blame Renji for the fact that Rukia had her Inner Hollow awakened. If it had been anyone's fault it was the Arrancar's that they were having so much trouble with. Nevertheless, Byakuya still entrusted Renji to keep Rukia safe and to protect her when needed. It seemed that Renji wasn't doing a very good job of that at all in Byakuya's opinion. Why else would Renji allow her to hollowfy so much? Just thinking about it made Byakuya feel the slightest bit of anger.

After Byakuya felt more exerts of Rukia's dark reiatsu mixed with Renji's normal reiatsu, Byakuya stood up. He had his hands on his desk as his eyes remained staring out the window. After a moment of staring he walked away from his desk and he grabbed his Zanpakuto. He slipped it in his obi and he began to walk out of his office. He then began to head out of the squad six barracks that was until he ran into a familiar face.

It had been his third seat Rikichi. For once he hadn't been stupidly going around chasing Hell Butterflies and using stupid tricks to try to get them back. Byakuya remembered one time Renji told him about Rikichi trying to attract a Hell Butterfly by using a paper made butterfly and saying it was a female. Thinking about it almost made Byakuya sweat drop, but he simply ignored it. He looked down at his third seat stoically. Rikichi hadn't been smiling either, he looked rather nervous and worried, and he had some sweat drip from his forehead.

"Captain Kuchiki…Please help Kuchiki-san and Abarai-san…" The ebony haired boy requested with etched eyebrows.

Byakuya eyed the young man for a moment. He knew that he had some odd obsession with Renji, and because of that he probably knew a lot about Rukia as well. The ebony haired captain began to walk away from Rikichi, and the young boy's eyes trailed after him. Byakuya stopped but only for an instant. "I will."

With that Byakuya disappeared.

* * *

Ichigo began to wonder why time it had been. He could barely tell if it was morning or night. It wasn't as if there was a window in the damn prison he had been kept in. He didn't even believe that he deserved to be locked away when Soul Society was in peril. So he almost hollowfied, to Ichigo it wasn't a big deal. After all, his sister was there with him to knock him out of it. Soul Society was always so harsh in that way, never really trusting people when they needed it most. Ichigo blamed Old Man Yama for that, after all, he was the one who made all of the decisions, aside from Central 46.

Not to mention that Ichigo began to feel weak and tired. The food that they had been giving him to keep him alive was terrible, and more than half the time he refused to eat it. It wasn't exactly the kind of food that Ichigo would expect from Soul Society, especially since when he ate at Squad Four the food was tasty and salvageable. Ichigo began to wonder if Squad Eleven was the one who had been making the prisoner food. Or it could have been the guards taking shifts. Either way, Ichigo didn't like it. The one thing he was grateful for was the water, that was always good and it helped him get some sleep.

His wounds had healed pretty well over the past month as well, considering he hadn't been able to do any hard labour. But throughout the whole month he wondered how much longer he would have to stay in the prison. He figured Soul Society would have let him out once his wounds were healed, but it looked like that wasn't the case, otherwise they would have already let him go. Ichigo scowled a little bit as his deep thoughts continued. He didn't like where things were going. He didn't want the Soul Society to keep him locked out throughout the whole time the Arrancar's were there.

The more Ichigo began to think about it, the more he began to get angry and annoyed. All he wanted was to protect people, like what he was meant to do. He loved protecting people and keeping them safe. It was a desire that he always had ever since he was a child. But no, Soul Society must have thought he was far too unstable and so they decided to keep him locked away. Ichigo glared at the bars of the prison and he wanted to go over to them and try to rip them open. He knew he wouldn't be able to though, so he remained sitting with his back against the wall.

Ichigo had a look of disbelief on his face. He couldn't stop thinking about how unfair everyone had been treating him just because of one little accident. Heck, he wasn't even allowed to have any visitors, not even his own sister could see him. He could've sworn his reiatsu had risen a little bit, but it was hard to tell because of the unit he was locked in. It was one where reiatsu was naturally locked away, to secure that there really was no way out.

"Guards! I want out! Open the damn door!" Ichigo shouted as he stood up suddenly. The guards didn't even turn to him though; they simply remained with their backs to the young teenager who began to glare at them. "You can't keep me locked up in here! Not when people are dying out there!"

One of the guards, the guard that Ichigo had talked to early that day turned to him with a very annoyed look on his face. "Oh do shut up! You're getting on my nerves, just stay sitting there like a good little boy. When we get orders to let you out, we'll let you out. We will not go against our orders." The guard just babbled on and on about a bunch of nonsense that Ichigo didn't care for at all, and the more he blabbered on the angrier Ichigo got.

"People are getting killed!"

The guard slammed his staff on the ground, causing Ichigo to flinch and glare at the older and rougher man. "That is enough! I have had enough of your talking! I could get Head Captain Yamamoto to move you to a different cell, a more contained cell much darker than this one! Unless if you want that you'd better stop your talking!" It seemed that the guard truly was tired and exhausted of having to watch over Ichigo. Usually he was more calm and collected, but it was completely different this time.

Nevertheless Ichigo closed his mouth and he glared at the guard. He backed up against the wall again and shrunk down, looking up at the dark ceiling. _Damn it… _The orange haired teen thought to himself with a bit of despair. He felt completely useless and there was nothing he could do about it. He could do nothing and it made him feel sick and uneasy, a feeling that Ichigo did not enjoy in the slightest.

But suddenly, as Ichigo was sitting there on the cold floor, a thought struck him. Something that he didn't even think about before at all. He began to get confused and he looked at the ground in confusion and uncertainty. The whole time he had been locked away he heard nothing of his Inner Hollow at all. Not sneers, a taunt, not even an image of his Hollow smirking at him. That worried Ichigo a little bit, not because he was actually concerned for his Hollow, but because his Hollow could be plotting against him again, and since he was locked away and weaponless it would be simple.

Ichigo shook his head and he thought about it deeper. Then again, he remembered when he had tried to enter his Inner World he was oddly unable to do so. Something like that had never happened before. He usually always had access to his Inner World when he felt like it, or whenever Zangetsu called to him. It struck him as odd that he wasn't able to enter; it worried him that Zangetsu didn't call for him either. Ichigo furrowed his eyebrows and he shifted his eyes back and for around the cell. Zangetsu was away from him, so perhaps that was the reason. Ichigo didn't think so though.

Ichigo was never really good a Jinzen either, so it wasn't as if he could just sit down and enter his Inner World so easily. At the moment that began to frustrated him more than the fact that he wasn't allowed outside. Ichigo shook his head as he began to think about it more intensely. There had to be some sort of logical reason as to why he wasn't allowed in his Inner World. Then an idea struck Ichigo, it may not have worked, but it was worth a shot. Ichigo closed his eyes and took a deep breath.

_Hey…Old Man…You there? _Ichigo thought as he concentrated on trying to locate Zangetsu in his mind. After a few minutes of waiting, Ichigo opened his chocolate brown eyes slightly wide. He got no response at all from Zangetsu. Not moans, not a grunt, not even him saying Ichigo's name. That was when Ichigo began to panic a little bit. Why hadn't Zangetsu been saying anything back to him? _Am I really locked out of my own Inner World too?! _The orange haired substitute exclaimed in despair and panic. Ichigo shook his head as one hand scrunched his orange hair.

_This can't be happening…How is this even possible?! _Ichigo asked himself as he kept his chocolate brown eyes wide. He could feel some sweat drip off of his chin and his heart began to beat faster. _Wait! Is it because of Arata?! Did he do something…What was the last thing he did..? _Ichigo trailed off as his head began to spin into a flashback.

_"Stay out of this!" The orange haired teen shouted as he looked over at his sister, chocolate brown eyes wide, orange eyebrows furrowed and anger written all over his face. Melek understood, but it didn't help the situation. Melek feared if Ichigo let his reiatsu slip a little more, then his Hollow would think he's vulnerable, and that wouldn't help anything._

_Arata took Ichigo's distraction to his advantage and he jumped forward, towards the boy, and he jammed his hand deeply into Ichigo's chest. Ichigo cringed and he looked down at Arata's hand, blood began to seep from Ichigo's wound, and to make the wound worse, the Arrancar tugged downward and he tore open Ichigo's chest a little bit, causing the younger man to let out an agonized scream._

_Ichigo grunted as some blood came from his mouth but he shook his head. He would just have to do his best to ignore the open chest wound. Arata gripped his sword again and he went to thrust his sword through Ichigo's wound, but Ichigo quickly managed to block the attack. The orange haired teen sliced across Arata's chest while a Getsuga was wrapped around it, causing Arata to get a chest wound as well. The two of them clashed swords and they made distance between each other._

_The two of them continued to make deep cuts on each other from that point. Ichigo had a few more cuts on his chest and some cuts on his face, while Arata had his shoulder practically mangled from when Ichigo thrust his sword through the man's shoulder while releasing a Getsuga Tenshou. All the while Ichigo's reiatsu never changed, it only grew darker and stronger with every attack the two of them made to each other._

_Ichigo began to get more sadistic as well and much more violent. His chocolate brown eyes were wide with malice and the intent to kill. The boy wanted so bad to just destroy the Arrancar. He didn't care if they needed answers, after all Kazumi was still a live, they could always ask her. But Arata. Arata was officially on Ichigo's hit list, he wanted Arata to be the first one to go._

_Arata was amused by it all, but with the more attacks that they landed on each other the more he became serious. The redhead jumped back and he raised his Zanpakuto, blood dripping off of his chin, shoulder and chest. While there was some distance between the two of them, Arata noticed that Melek had called out a warning to her brother. The redhead scowled to himself, the Kurosaki female was making things too cautious for his liking._

_Ichigo turned towards his sister again and he looked crazed. The orange haired teen had a terribly large smirk on his face, and black began to make its way into his right eye. He began to walk towards Melek, and he began laughing, but his laugh was different. It was distorted and dry, dry and crazy. Melek frowned and raised her Bankai sword getting ready to defend herself. As Ichigo was continuing his way Arata took a step forward as well._

_"Kurosaki!" He yelled and Ichigo stopped and looked over at the Arrancar, his expression remaining the same. Arata held his sword out in front of him and he turned it on its side, keeping it pointed towards Ichigo. "Disappear…Hideki!" It happened. It finally happened. He released his Zanpakuto. Ichigo stared and waited, his smirk disappearing while his right eye fully turned black and gold. All there was was a cloud of smoke, a large grey cloud of smoke. Ichigo expected to see Arata bolt out of it, but he didn't._

_Ichigo tilted his head to the side and he took a step forward. It was odd. The grey smoke began to float towards him, but Arata was nowhere in sight. Nothing was there; it was like a magic trick you would see on a television show. The smoke surrounded Ichigo and Ichigo's vision began to blur suddenly. The orange haired teen swiped at the smoke with his Tensa Zangetsu, but to no avail. He called out to Melek, asking what was going on, but he didn't really know if he did or not. The boy couldn't hear anything. He couldn't hear a thing, and his body began to feel numb._

_He tried to call out again but he still couldn't hear, so he really had no idea if he was saying anything. The orange haired teen began staggering away as the smoke disappeared. Ichigo turned in the direction of his sister but it was hard to tell if she was there, his vision was getting blurrier and blurrier. Then he shook his head. His hands fell to his sides and he saw darkness._

That was all he remembered from that fight. He didn't exactly remember much else; everything was a blur after that. Ichigo was still confused though. He didn't understand what Arata's Zanpakuto did and he was confused about how he passed out from the odd cloud of smoke as well. Ichigo shook his head in utter confusion. He just wanted to get out of the prison to go take care of the Arrancar and go find his sister.

That was when it started. The same thing that happened when Arata had been fighting Ichigo was happening to him again. Ichigo began to lose his hearing. He could barely heart anything. The guards were chit-chatting away quietly to themselves ignoring Ichigo. Ichigo groaned as his head began to pound. Ichigo held his head with one hand and he began to crawl towards the prison cell bars. He began to lose strength in his arms and legs and soon he couldn't hear anything. He tried to call out to the guards but he couldn't tell if it worked. Ichigo's vision began to blur too, and his head continued to pound repeatedly. He felt himself fall on his stomach and chest as he began to feel weaker and weaker. Soon, like before, he only saw darkness.

The guards turned to Ichigo but the one who had talked to him early had his eyes narrowed. He looked annoyed and he figured that what Ichigo was doing was some sort of trick. "Come on. Get up." He ordered as he kicked the bars of the cell. To his surprise, Ichigo didn't respond at all. The two guards exchanged looks and then they both looked down at Ichigo again.

There was a moan that came from Ichigo's lips and the guards let out a sigh of relief. The last thing they wanted was to bother Squad Four. Ichigo slowly lifted himself on his hands and knees and he let out another groan. His eyes looked different though. They almost looked dead; they had no light in them. They didn't look warm or gentle either. Ichigo sat up and he rubbed his head with a frown. Then he put his hand in front of his face. He opened it and then closed it. It was almost as if he was using it for the first time like an ignorant child. Ichigo began to smile as he stood up. His smile was odd though. It looked simply different than usual.

The guards were about to ask questions, when suddenly Ichigo thrust his hands through the open spaces between the bars. He grabbed their heads and slammed the two guards together, causing the both of them to fall unconscious on the floor. Ichigo lowered himself and he reached his arm through and grabbed the keys that were on the guard's clothing. He unlocked the door and stepped out of it, stepping over the guards. He looked around and saw his Zanpakuto hanging in a glass case. Ichigo simply walked over to it and he unlocked it, and then he grabbed his Zanpakuto and held it in one hand. Both of his hands fell by his sides. He looked up at the ceiling with a menacing look.

"Soul Society…You are as good as dead."

* * *

And that's the chapter!

Ohohoh :trollface: I love this cliffhanger. Five points for anyone who guesses what the hell is going on. Trololo. I really had fun with this chapter, but now that Ichigo is finally out of the prison, I can have a little more fun now *evil look*

And don't worry, I'll do my best to upload faster! T_T

**TRANSLATIONS**:

**Shinigami= Soul Reaper**

**Reiatsu= Spiritual Pressure**

**(Wow not many translations this time xD)**


	15. NOTE

Yo everyone! It's been awhile! Okay, so I would like to apologize greatly for the wait on Scherzo! I've been working on White Eye as most of you readers should know, and if you didn't then you do now! Okay, so I've been working on the next chapter and hopefully it'll be done soon! So please be patient! Also I looked back on my story and there was this OC named Alev something. Yeah, in a nutshell I have no idea who she is, or who her owner is so I cut her from the story. Sorry guys! It doesn't matter though, from what I read she wasn't important *shrugs* The story won't change much because she's not there.

Anyway, thanks for sticking with me! A chapter update soon, hopefully!


	16. Chapter 15

**Disclaimer: Bleach belongs to Kubo Tite**

Hey everyone, welcome back to Scherzo. I apologize for the long wait, I've been working on White Eye as most of you may or may not know. I've also been working on a billion other different things. Now, a little warning this chapter is a little shorter than the last so I apologize, but some really interesting stuff is on the way.

Reviews are welcome, just no flamers. Thank you and enjoy the feature presentation.

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** SCHERZO Chapter 15**

Renji panted a little bit and he rubbed his cheek with his forearm. Rukia had done some damage on him and Renji had tried his best not to inflict too much damage on her. Renji had a few burns on his face and chest, and he had a few cuts in a few different places. Rukia had a few small cuts as well and a bruise or two. Nevertheless she had never gotten control over her body and she was still hollowfied and not giving up the fight. Renji hated seeing her like this and he wished there was a simpler solution for fixing it, but it seemed that there was nothing.

Rukia was panting though and it made Renji think that she was a little bit tired from all the nonstop fighting techniques she had been using. She had used Tsukishiro and Hakuren multiple times and she did fire a cero every now and then. It made Renji think that doing all of that while being hollowfied must have been painful on the body. Rukia never dropped her sword though; she kept it held tightly in her hand. The once pure white blade had a few crimson blood splotches on it and it didn't look as beautiful as it regularly did.

_I wonder how much more her body will be willing to take…The mask hasn't even come on yet, and that thought alone is nerve wracking…_Renji thought to himself as he spit some blood out of his mouth. He scowled and he gripped his Zanpakuto tightly in his hands. He wouldn't let a Hollow take the better of him, even if that Hollow was inside of Rukia. As far as he was concerned there were many ways to get Rukia back in control without having to actually kill her. That was his plan.

Simultaneously Renji and Rukia charged at each other. Rukia held her arm out and she began to fire up a bright red cero like she had done multiple other times during the fight. Renji gripped his sword harder in his hands, turning his knuckles white and he whipped it out in front of him to block the upcoming attack.

But then before Renji or Rukia knew there was a flash and there was a large wall of pink blossoms in front of them, making them unable to reach each other. The two Shinigami jumped away from the wall, and Renji immediately looked over to see. He knew those cherry blossoms anywhere. There were cherry blossoms he came to respect over the years. He was a little surprised to see that his captain was there though.

Byakuya had been standing a few feet away from Renji and Rukia and he let his blade reform on the hilt. His face was as stoic as ever, considering it was Byakuya. Though there was something about him that did seem a little bit different. He took a step or two forward towards Renji and Rukia. Rukia scowled watching the captain walk forward while Renji simply stared in shock. He still couldn't figure out why Byakuya would come.

"Captain…" Renji began with a confused tone in his voice. "What are you doing here, sir?" The redhead lieutenant asked as his tattooed eyebrow rose a little bit. The last time Renji had actually seen Byakuya was when he was in the office, right before the ebony haired man left to go help Ichigo with Kenpachi.

Byakuya opened his cold grey eyes and he looked towards Renji. "Renji. I want you to leave and handle other things." The ebony haired man ordered calmly. It wasn't exactly an answer towards Renji's question, and it made the redhead a little bit annoyed. He didn't show it though; instead he still remained looking confused. He didn't understand why his captain would make him go elsewhere.

Renji took a step towards Byakuya and he raised his forearm. "Why, sir? I can handle this fine." Renji tried to reason with the older man standing before him.

"Renji. I gave you an order." Byakuya responded and Renji frowned. He sighed but he gave a faint nod. With that Renji flash stepped out of the area, leaving Rukia and Byakuya alone together. Rukia began to laugh evilly and distorted; she looked towards Byakuya with a menacing look. The look in her eyes read a taunt and mockery. Byakuya simply stared her down with his cold grey eyes. Byakuya held out his Zanpakuto in front of his chest and he closed his eyes a little bit, his reiatsu rising. Rukia watched and waited to see what he was going to do, but she began to get excited.

While that was happening Renji had been flash stepping towards squad four so that he could wrap up his wounds, then he would be able to go back and help his captain fight Rukia. But just thinking about fighting Rukia again made Renji cringe. He really did not like the feeling of it at all, and he wished it would stop. He knew that there was nothing he could do though. The only thing he really knew was that if the Arrancar were to die, then hopefully everyone would be brought back to normal. But it was hard to kill something when they were in hiding.

Way back a few weeks again, when Rukia first told Renji about the odd song, Renji wouldn't have imagined that things would have gotten as bad as they did. Soul Society was in a mess, and there was no telling which captain or lieutenant would hollowfy next. It was troublesome. Not only did they all have to worry about the captains, but the Kurosaki's as well. Even though, it seemed that they were taken care of. After all, Ichigo was still in prison, and Melek was still missing ever since her fight with the Arrancar. Some people presumed Melek to be dead, but Renji knew much better than that. Melek wasn't the type of person to be killed that quickly.

Renji couldn't help but look around the destroyed Seireitei as he was running on one of the rooftops. Many of the buildings were destroyed, and there were many holes and cracks in the ground. Some buildings were on fire, and smoke was erupting in many places as well. There were also many battles going on. Some of them were with Hollow Reapers and normal Shinigami, while others were just Hollow Reaper versus Hollow Reaper. Renji cringed in disgust.

The redhead couldn't help but wonder if it was really too late or not to even bother trying to save any of the Hollow Reapers. After all, some of them already had their masks and holes in their chests. Others were savable though because they only had their consciences taken over by their Inner Hollows, and their eyes were the only thing changed. Either way, the first priority for the Shinigami who were still sane was to find the Arrancar's and kill them. Then things would slowly begin going back to normal.

As Renji was running he heard footsteps coming in his direction, and he stopped quickly and looked over his shoulder, expecting to see a Hollow Reaper on his tail. But he was surprised when he saw no one. The man raised his tattooed eyebrow, but soon his eyes widened when he heard the sound of feet landing on the roof, in front of the redhead. Renji turned around and his brown eyes widened further in surprise.

In front of him was an all too familiar face. Most of everyone in the Seireitei knew this boy. But it was odd to see him. The last time Renji checked he was still supposed to be locked away. Not only was that, but the look in his eyes also odd. The light in the chocolate brown eyes were gone, and he had a calm smirk on his face. Renji frowned and he fully turned to face the young man. "Hello, Renji." His voice didn't sound like his either. It almost sounded different. It sounded more menacing and cruel, and that wasn't the voice that Renji grew to care about.

Renji narrowed his brown eyes. "Ichigo…What are you doing out of the prison?" The redhead asked as his hand gravitated towards his sword's hilt. It was instinct to him, to get ready for an attack. After all, what if Ichigo was secretly hollowfied and this was really his Hollow speaking? Renji wouldn't take that chance, so he never kept his eyes off of Ichigo. The whole situation simply did not suite well with Renji, and he didn't like the feel of Ichigo's reiatsu either.

Ichigo chuckled a little bit and he raised his arm. "They finally let me out. Isn't it great?" He responded and Renji narrowed his eyes further, and his tattooed eyebrows furrowed themselves deeply. It still didn't sound like Ichigo, and the look on the young boy's face really bothered the lieutenant. Not only that, but Renji could have sworn that Ichigo looked much more lively the last time he saw him, even if he was injured. All the lovable light that Ichigo once had in his orbs was simply gone. It was like they never existed.

"Why would they let you out now? It's been a month." Renji sounded skeptical and confused. But his voice was strong and firm. Something inside the redhead told him that this wasn't really Ichigo and that it was someone, or rather something else talking to him. Renji was going to ask Ichigo who he really was, but he knew that if he were to do that, than things would get suspicious too quickly. So the lieutenant remained calm and collected.

Once again Ichigo chuckled, but this time his own hand gravitated towards his own Zanpakuto's hilt. He closed his eyes for a moment and Renji took a step back while his hand tightly gripped Zabimaru's hilt. Everything was suddenly silent around the two boys and the wind blew past them, causing their hair to blow a little bit in the same direction, along with their baggy shihakusho sleeves. There was an explosion or two in the background, but Renji paid no mind to that. His first priority was to find out what was wrong with Ichigo.

Renji hadn't been paying attention, but he heard Ichigo say something. He didn't know what he said; he only knew that he was done saying it. Suddenly, Ichigo ran at him, and Renji was quick. He withdrew his Zanpakuto, and the two of them clashed their swords together, causing yellow and gold sparks to fly off of them. Ichigo had his eyes opened now and they revealed much more malice than before, and his smirk was much wider as well. Renji scowled and he pushed his thinner blade against Ichigo's larger one.

He was injured enough as it was, but to fight Ichigo who was far stronger than Rukia? Renji didn't know how long he would last, but he would do his best to hold Ichigo off until the real Ichigo was back in control. Obviously there was no way that this person was really Ichigo. But it couldn't have been Ichigo's Hollow either, because Ichigo's eyes hadn't changed, and Ichigo didn't even have a mask on his face. There were no signs at all of Ichigo hollowfying. Renji grit his teeth and he pushed against Ichigo's blade. He sent him back a few paces.

Ichigo backed up a little more on the rooftop they were on. He had bags under his eyes, probably from being in the prison for so long, and yet, he barely showed any sort of exhaustion. Ichigo's reiatsu began to rise, which wasn't too surprising. His reiatsu was quite unstable. But it was rising intentionally now, and the bright blue aura surrounding the young male. Ichigo gripped his sword tightly, causing his knuckles to turn almost snow white. Renji watched him intensely with his own brown eyes. Ichigo raised his blade high up in the air. A bright attack began to form around the large blade.

"Getsuga Tenshou!" The spiky haired teen called the name of his attack, firing it at full power towards Renji.

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Melek moaned quietly as she turned over on her side. Someone had told her to get up, but she really didn't want to. She was exhausted and had no intentions of waking up. What was the point? She had no reason to. Ichigo was still locked away, and the Soul Society was still being destroyed. Even if she were to wake up, what good would it do? She was only one person in the Soul Society compared to a million other people who had been hollowfied because of those Arrancars. It was troublesome, and Melek couldn't handle it. It had been a whole month since she's seen Ichigo and she had been asleep for a long time.

A week or so perhaps, that's what it felt like to her. She didn't much care though. After her fight with Kazumi she had been unconscious and found it hard to wake. There was a time she was close to waking up, but her eyes barely opened, and she only found herself in darkness, so she decided she would sleep a little longer. Her whole body was sore. Her arm had been nearly broken from Kazumi's hand to hand combat, and just her insides in general were feeling pretty bad. As if someone had put poison inside of her system or something. It stung. Like a million needles stabbing through her.

The voice was much louder this time and much more demanding when telling Melek to get up. So eventually Melek gave in and she opened her eyes. It took her a minute or two to do so though. She looked around with blurred eyes. Unlike before, she wasn't in a dark dreary area. She was in her Inner World, which she noticed as soon as her vision was cleared. There was something different though. This had only happened once, but Melek recognized it. The trees were pretty much bare, as if it were late autumn or early winter. It was a little cold as well. There was no warm summer's breeze and the clouds were much darker than before. Not only that but the grass looked dead. There weren't birds in the sky either.

Something else Melek noticed was that she wasn't in her Bankai anymore. When she last fell asleep she was in her Bankai. Looked like Jitsugetsu got impatient and took her out of it. Not that Melek cared about that. She didn't need to be in her Bankai anyway. Not in her Inner World. There was no reason to be. Not only that, but Melek hadn't even known where she was outside of her world. There was a good possibility that she was still in that dark place. Melek didn't know, but when she looked up from the ground, she saw Jitsugetsu standing in front of her, with her arms crossed, and a cold expression on her face.

Her expression seemed much colder than usual. Melek didn't stand up. She remained sitting. "Jitsu." Melek greeted with a nod of her head. Melek sat with her palms on the dry grass beneath her and she looked around some more. This is definitely not the world she remembered it to be once. She had remembered however, seventeen months ago, that it was flooded up with bare trees and no grass at all. This was a scene she hadn't seen at all before.

Jitsugetsu narrowed her pale green eyes. "Get up, Melek." Her voice was harsh as she spoke. Melek looked up at Jitsugetsu. She still didn't stand up. Perhaps it was Jitugetsu's mood alone that made the world the way it was. Melek didn't know. Jitsugetsu had a disgusted look on her face. She grabbed Melek's shihakusho collar and pulled her upright. She forced Melek to stand on her feet, and then she crossed her arms again. She still looked annoyed, and now Melek looked annoyed as well. The younger girl narrowed her eyes.

"Why? Why? What's the point?" The pale girl snapped with a calm yet firm tone in her voice. "It doesn't matter if I get up or not. What can I do? The Soul Society is already destroyed." Melek sounded disgusted with herself. She usually wasn't filled with such negative emotion towards protecting things. But there was something different this time. Something that she couldn't understand. It was something that had to do with Kazumi and that Arata fellow. She could do nothing, that's how she felt. She grimaced at the thought.

"You bring shame on the Kurosaki name." Jitsugetsu bluntly told her. Melek's mouth parted open a little bit, and the pale girl furrowed her eyebrows, glaring. Jitsugetsu nodded her head. "Sitting around, doing NOTHING as Soul Society is being torn apart." The taller brunette was harsh as she spoke. Melek closed her eyes, turning her head away from Jitsugetsu. The expression in her face was as cold as ever as well. Melek never understood her at times.

Melek decided to change the subject, though she knew it would be inevitable. "Alright, well can you at least tell me where I am? How come whenever I wake up I'm in some weird dark place!" She flailed her arms scowling. The last time she checked she was supposed to be in the Soul Society, not in some weird dark place. She was near the squad five barracks, she believed.

"Clearly you do not remember." Jitsugetsu raised her forearm. Melek looked confused, she raised her brown eyebrow. "That Arrancar, Kazumi, used an Arrancar's device on you. It's a device called, Muda." The woman explained. Melek closed her mouth and listened intently. "It encases you in a barrier of darkness. You'll be able to break out after we're done." Jitsugetsu finished explaining. But still, Melek looked confused.

What did she mean? After we're done? That's what she had said. Melek moved her eyes to the ground. She looked up at Jitsugetsu's pale green eyes. "When we're done with what?" The brunette asked with a confused tone. She frowned. Jitsugetsu was always saying weird things like that. Melek never understood her at times, she really never did. Jitsugetsu looked a little less cold now and more challenging. Melek took a step back.

"I'm going to train you." Melek sweat dropped at that. Jitsugetsu had already trained Melek before. "Don't look like that. I know I've trained you to a great extent. However, I'm going to teach you how to use the Getsuga Tenshou."

Melek's dark brown eyes widened. She took another step back. "But, Suta Senko is my attack!" Jitsugetsu nodded. Melek frowned. "I've never used a Getsuga Tenshou before! You're crazy! How is this even possible?!" The brunette yelled in confusion and frustration. Jitsugetsu didn't seem at all phased by Melek's outburst. Jitsugetsu closed her eyes for a moment. Melek frowned and lowered her arms by her sides. She closed her mouth again and lowered her eyes.

"You have used it before. Only once or twice." Melek's eyes shot up again. She looked up at the older woman. "You've never realized it before, because you simply thought it was your Suta Senko. But it wasn't. This has happened in your Bankai." Jitsugetsu explained deeply. Melek narrowed her eyes and listened. "It's possible. After all, I'm related to Zangetsu and Engetsu; I have the power to perform a Getsuga Tenshou."

There was silence after that. The wind blew a little bit in the Inner World, making it a little chilly. The air was sharp as it hit Melek's face. Melek bit her lip. Melek felt a weird feeling in her stomach, as if someone had punched a hole through her stomach. Melek glared at Jitsugetsu, taking a step forward. "Well, if we could have used a Getsuga this whole time, then why the hell haven't you taught it to me?!" The teenager snapped with frustration. That was it. She was frustrated. If Jitsugetsu could have taught her the whole time, that would have been nice! Melek grit her teeth and never dropped her glare on the Zanpakuto who still had her arms crossed.

Jitsugetsu just stood there. Still had that cold expression on her face but she was fairly calm, and her pale green eyes almost looked soft. "It wasn't necessary. You handled the Suta Senko well enough, I never thought of teaching you the Getsuga Tenshou." The brunette explained. Melek remained quiet but she never did drop her glare. "But now, I believe it's time for you to learn it." Melek stood up straight and she shifted her eyes away from Jitsugetsu.

Melek frowned. "Well, it would have been nice if you would have taught me the Getsuga Tenshou before all of this." She remarked narrowing her eyes once she looked back at Jitsugetsu. "I mean, having more than one attack would have helped me throughout the Arrancar war and probably when I had that stupid Fullbring, thing."

Melek didn't understand why only now, Jitsugetsu was finally willing to teach her about the Getsuga Tenshou. Melek didn't even know she could use a Getsuga. Jitsugetsu had said she had used it once or twice, but Melek had never even realized. She knew that Jitsugetsu was Zangetsu's twin sister, she was told that not too long after Melek finally called out to Jitsugetsu. Still, she had never even imagined that she could use a Getsuga Tenshou. Suta Senko was her signature move and she didn't think she could use anything else. After all Jitsugetsu had never taught her anything else.

There was more silence. Melek and Jitsugetsu stared at each other for a moment. They shared the silence together, like what two companions should do when it was needed. The wind carried tension and it was beginning to get uncomfortable. Melek didn't know why, but she felt as if something heavy was coming her way. Some sort of heavy training. It was going to be hard work, but she was ready. She was going to train hard.

Still, Jitsugetsu never formed a sword in her hands yet, like what Melek thought she was going to do. Jitsugetsu's expression grew colder and the wind blew by, sweeping their brown hair in the same direction. "But first, I have to tell you the truth."

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**Shinigami= Soul Reaper**

**Reiatsu= Spiritual Pressure**


	17. Chapter 16

**Disclaimer: Bleach belongs to Kubo Tite.**

Hey guys! Sorry about the wait again, I know it's been awhile. I've been busy with other works and drawings and whatnot. I hope to update this faster but every time I say that it's a jinx.

Reviews are welcome, just no flamers. Thank you and enjoy the feature presentation.

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**SCHERZO Chapter 16**

Melek looked confused. "The truth about…" She trailed off shaking her head. She had no idea what Jitsugetsu was talking about. "About…Being able to use a Getsuga?" She asked sweat dropping. Jitsugetsu didn't respond. "You already told me I can use it, you said it barely two minutes ago. What else is there for you to tell me?" The brunette asked with nothing but utter confusion written on her face.

Jitsugetsu shook her head. There was silence in the world that was once filled with trees full of leaves, and luscious green grass that was comforting to look at. It was almost upsetting that there wasn't even a warm summers' breeze. It was just a barren world it seemed like. Melek wondered if it was because of how she was feeling about the situation with the Soul Society or if it was because of how Jitsugetsu was feeling. Melek didn't know, but she remained quiet, waiting for her Zanpakuto to say something. She was usually impatient with such things, but this seemed too important, so she could wait.

Jitsugetsu's eyes softened but only a little bit, she still looked cold. "This doesn't have to do with a Getsuga Tenshou. This has to do about your family." The brunette responded. Melek tensed up and she widened her eyes a minute. "I was hoping that I wouldn't have to be the one to tell you this, because in all honesty, there are people who could be better at it than I." Jitsugetsu carried on. Melek frowned deeply. There was silence afterwards. Jitsugetsu and Melek looked at each other for a couple of minutes before Jitsugetsu closed her light green eyes.

Melek frowned taking a step forward. "What?" She asked with distress in her voice. Jitsugetsu opened her eyes and looked down at her. Melek sweated a little with the silence and the look Jitsugetsu had in her eyes. Melek swallowed the lump in her throat. "WHAT?!" Melek shouted as she creased her eyebrows. Her heart was pounding heavily in her chest, like a beating drum that never stopped beating. Jitsugetsu crossed her arms over her chest and her light green eyes hardened a little.

"You're not simply a Shinigami. As a matter of fact you have another blood in you as well. However, you take after your father, and more than ninety percent of your blood is Shinigami." Jitsugetsu began. Melek tensed up and listened silently. "Your mother was never a simple human, Melek. Masaki Kurosaki was a Quincy. She was a pureblood Quincy." The brunette continued, watching Melek. Melek's dark brown eyes widened and her heart skipped a beat. She found it hard to breathe. Melek took a step back and her mouth parted open a little bit. Jitsugetsu paused to see if Melek would say anything. However the younger girl hadn't said a word.

Jitsugetsu sighed. "She had an arranged marriage with Uryu Ishida's father, Ryuuken. That broke off however once she met your dad." The green eyed girl continued. Melek's hands began twitching a little. "Something happened between a Hollow, your mother, and your father, but I won't go into detail. Your father and mother mad a connection, and got married. Before they knew, Ichigo was born, and a year later you were born." Jitsugetsu explained further. Melek began growing a little paler. There was a heavy lump in her throat and she found it hard to speak.

"There's something else you should know about your father." Melek barely managed to look up at Jitsugetsu as the woman continued. "He wasn't originally "Kurosaki", he was a Shiba. I'm sure you remember Rukia talking about a man named Kaien Shiba?" Jitsugetsu tried to confirm. She waited for a response of some kind from Melek. Melek's eyes did widen for a moment as her eyes began flashing before her eyes.

_Melek and Rukia were sitting on a grassy hill in the Soul Society. It had been a few weeks after what had happened to her in the Soul Society and she began regaining her reiatsu. She was wearing a white yukata as she rested up, while Melek remained wearing her normal black Shinigami shihakusho. They had been discussing some things. Mostly random things. Melek was uneasily listening while Rukia was talking on and on. But when Melek heard Rukia say something about Ichigo, she stopped and looked over at her._

_ "Yeah. There was this man named Kaien Shiba." Rukia explained looking at Melek with her violet eyes. Melek nodded. "Ichigo looks just like him, and acts like him sometimes." The ebony haired woman laughed a little at the thought. Melek tilted her head to the side, nodding. "I guess that's why Ichigo is someone I could trust easily."_

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_ "No, Ukitake. That boy is not who you think he is." Byakuya Kuchiki explained to the white haired captain behind him. Ukitake had mistaken Ichigo for someone who was once in his squad. Of course Ichigo nor Melek had any idea of what Byakuya meant. It was most definitely odd at the time._

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_ Byakuya looked at the Kurosaki's, but he focused closely on Ichigo. He narrowed his grey eyes. Yes, Ichigo definitely reminded Byakuya of Kaien Shiba._

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"Do you understand, Melek?" Jitsugestu asked. Melek snapped out of her thoughts as she stared at Jitsugetsu with wide dark brown eyes. There was a long silence. Jitsugetsu frowned a little bit as her eyebrows furrowed. "Perhaps, I should have told you all of this sooner. It didn't seem necessary any other time, however. I figure you might as well know the truth now." Jitsugetsu tried a different approach. Melek continued to remain silent.

More silence was shared. A cold breeze began to pick up, causing the dry grass to shift. It began to rain in the Inner World. Jitsugetsu narrowed her eyes as rain pelted down from the sky, soaking up her arms along with the rest of her body. The rain poured down unto Melek as well, getting her all wet. Other than the rain pounding down from the sky there were no other sounds. No more words were exchanged and perhaps that had been a good thing. Melek's hands had stopped twitching by now and her head was lowered as the rain poured down from the sky.

That was when it smacked Jitsugetsu in the face. A wave of depressing reiatsu exploded from Melek's body. Jitsugetsu of course was not at all fazed, and she simply stood there with her arms still crossed. She hadn't expected Melek to take the news easily. However, the brunette hadn't expected the younger girl to erupt with depressing reiatsu. It grew darker in the Inner World now, and all remained silent. At long last, Melek looked up at Jitsugetsu. Her eyes were angry it looked like, but to Jitsugetsu they also looked saddened as well. They were saddened yet warm dark brown eyes.

"How could you…" Melek shook her head a little. "You lied to me?! You lied to me this whole time!" The pale girl shouted angrily. She breathed unevenly and her breath was hoarse and sharp. It felt as if someone had been pulling on her heart. "You knew- You knew! And yet you…You lied about EVERYTHING!" Melek shouted and Jitsugetsu simply remained standing where she was. Melek's body shook a little bit. She had a cold feeling in her stomach. "You knew about my dad, and my mom and you just lied right to my face! I TRUSTED YOU!"

That was when Melek dropped to her knees. She placed her palms on the now wet ground. Her pale hands clenched into fists and her breaths came out quickly. Jitsugetsu watched her. Melek's body continued shaking a little bit, and the rain became heavier. "I can't believe this!" Melek yelled, glaring at the wet ground. "I'm…AGHHH! I'm nothing but a stupid half-breed!" Her voice was quieter when Melek shouted this. It was quieter and much more saddened. Jitsugetsu closed her eyes. "A half-breed…A filthy…Disgusting…Half-breed…" A tear or two slipped from Melek's eyes, though it was hard to tell because of all the rain.

Melek bit her bottom lip to try to calm herself down. She glared at the wet ground. Thunder boomed throughout the sky, and lightning flashed. The pale girl exhaled quaveringly. Her head lowered some more as she let out a loud scream. Jitsugetsu opened her eyes and continued to watch Melek. Melek continued to scream out in agony. Jitsugetsu's heart began to sting a little bit as she watched her master scream. She had tried to help Melek the whole time, by not telling her anything about her family. Perhaps that was Jitsugetsu's biggest downfall.

It pained Jitsugetsu inwardly to see Melek on her hands and knees screaming the way she was. Jitsugetsu lowered herself on her knees and she cleared her throat. "Melek, come on, get over here." Her voice was still cold, but it almost sounded reassuring. Melek looked up from the ground with her face stained with some tears and rain. Melek stood up a little only to stagger and fall over when she reached Jitsugetsu. She sat in front of Jitsugetsu and wiped her face with her black sleeves. Melek took a few shaky exhaled to try to calm herself down. "Melek, listen. You are more…Normal, than any other asshole I've ever met." Jitsugetsu used sign language to show her.

Melek huffed a little and shook her head. "No! I'm disgusting! Everything about me is disgusting! I'm a disgrace to all Shinigami!" The frantic girl yelled. Jitsugetsu shook her head a little. "I don't understand…" Melek whispered quietly. Jitsugetsu sighed. Jitsugetsu awkwardly wrapped her arms around Melek and pulled the younger girl toward her. Melek let out the quietest of gasps when that happened. Melek shifted her eyes down and swallowed the lump in her throat.

"Calm down." Jitsugetsu told her as she rubbed Melek's back. She had never really hugged anyone before and doing so was awkward. She did so anyway for she was worried about Melek's stability. "Remember what I said? Your blood is ninety percent Shinigami. The other ten percent is Quincy, and in reality that is not much at all. Besides, you've never activated any Quincy abilities, and that won't happen anytime soon." Jitsugetsu let go of her now and Melek had stopped crying. The rain had lightened but just barely.

Melek stood up now, as did Jitsugetsu. Melek moved away from Jitsugetsu, as if a realization hit her. Melek glared at Jitsugetsu, her eyebrows furrowing. "Now I hate you." Melek blurted out rather bluntly as she shook her head. Jitsugetsu didn't say anything. She simply nodded. "I hate you! I HATE YOU!" The brunette yelled some more, but Jitsugetsu said nothing in protest. Jitsugetsu had been acting as if the whole scenario was something natural.

"I understand." The older brunette responded at long last. She closed her eyes for a moment. Melek narrowed her eyes angrily. "You'll simply have to put that aside for now. We have training to do." Melek's mouth parted open a little bit as her head slightly tilted to the side. Jitsugetsu noticed her puzzled yet frustrated expression. "I'm still teaching you how to use a Getsuga Tenshou." Jitsugetsu told Melek seriously, her tone remaining cold and harsh towards her master. Her hand outstretched and she formed the familiar trench-knife oversized sword. She got into a stance.

Melek withdrew her own sword and she threw it out in front of her. Her reiatsu was flaring up from her body. However, it wasn't her normal blue reiatsu. It was the pure black reiatsu she emitted whenever she was in her Bankai. There was a somewhat dazed but angry look in her eyes as she got ready. Lightning flashed throughout the sky, lighting up the darkened world. The rain had stopped. It was now a battle of wills. Melek's hands turned white as she gripped her Zanpakuto's black hilt tighter. Jitsugetsu and Melek stared each other down. Green calm eyes looked into Melek's dark brown angry eyes.

She took a step back, slicking the grass under her foot. Melek swung to the side for a moment before she ran towards Jitsugetsu. Jitsugetsu and Melek clashed their swords against each other's. Melek's eyes were somewhat wide with anger, while Jitsugetsu's eyes were narrowed. Lightning flashed through the sky again, lighting up the area some more. Melek glided her Zanpakuto off of Jitsugetsu's blade before she jumped back. She gripped her sword with both of her hands, gathering up her reiatsu. She grunted as she fired her blue, almost white, Suta Senko towards Jitsugetsu.

Jitsugetsu sidestepped quickly and calmly, and watched as the attack whipped past her. It left a long wide crack in the Inner World. Jitsugetsu turned around as Melek jumped up, throwing her sword down towards Jitsugetsu. The older woman raised her own blade and blocked Melek's attack at ease. Melek growled as she pressed her Zanpakuto against Jitsugetsu's. Jitsugetsu had remained calm and with a swipe of her sword, she sent Melek flying back a few paces. Melek skidded on the ground before she quickly jumped back up and got into a stance.

The woman narrowed her eyes. "Melek, stop thinking about what I just told you. If you think about it constantly and despair, you will not get anywhere." Jitsugetsu curtly told her. Melek gritted her teeth. "Listen, what you have to do is begin concentrating your reiatsu into your hands. It'll travel down your arms and enter your hands, which will be the power source behind your Getsuga Tenshou." She began to explain how it was done. Melek looked a little bit puzzled as her eyebrows creased. That sounded a lot easier than actually doing it. Melek was never able to concentrate her reiatsu too well.

Melek stared at her blade and tried to do what Jitsugetsu told her. She began to feel reiatsu tickling her arms the most but it went away quickly. Jitsugetsu shook her head. "Oh. As a side note, if you lose concentrating while releasing the Getsuga Tenshou, your hands will explode." The woman explained with utter nonchalance. Melek looked up with her eyes wide. That was when Jitsugetsu ran at her quickly, catching Melek off guard. "The enemy won't wait for you to load your attack; you'll have to do it quickly!" She raised her voice slightly.

The pale girl jumped back as Jitsugetsu tried to stab Melek. Melek huffed and she stepped to the side, all the while trying to concentrate her reiatsu. Jitsugetsu was merciless. She quickly reached Melek and she affectively cut her side as she ran by. Melek grunted and narrowed her eyes. She jumped out of the way from the next attack while trying to concentrate. She began to feel the tickling feeling of reiatsu going down her arms and she began to get hopeful. However her concentration broke out before it reached her hands. Jitsugetsu was in front of her and she sliced straight down Melek's chest.

Melek coughed up some blood and she skidded back a few paces on the wet grass. Melek glared at Jitsugetsu. There was hatred in her eyes, and Melek felt hate in her heart as well. It was all directed towards the person she once trusted. The woman who had lied to her about everything. She despised that woman. She despised her cold ways. Melek gritted her teeth. Her heart was aching from feeling that heavy hatred. Melek had begun wondering if that hate would die down with the more she would fight the woman. She wasn't sure. Her thoughts were snapped away from her as Jitsugetsu sent a Suta Senko her way.

Moving out of the way, Melek began to concentrate again, finding it rather difficult. Jitsugetsu appeared in front of her in seconds. Out of instinct, Melek threw her blade up and blocked the oncoming attack. Melek glided her blade off of Jitsugetsu's again and she managed to cut the older woman's side. Melek jumped back quickly and fired her Suta Senko attack. Jitsugetsu once again jumped out of the way and was quickly making her way towards Melek. Melek grunted as blades clashed together again. Lightning flashed in the sky, showing Melek's frustration and Jitsugetsu's hardened expression.

Jitsugetsu slammed her blade downward, trying to counteract Melek. Melek huffed as she began concentrating. There was that tickling feeling once again. Melek scowled as she thrust her blade and pushed Jitsugetsu back. She lost her concentration and jumped back. Melek stared at the ground. Bags were under her eyes and her head was pounding. Jitsugetsu had her hands by her sides, her sword remaining in her right hand. She watched her master with cold yet almost soft eyes. She could only imagine what she was feeling, and even that was hard. Melek didn't look up for a while. Jitsugetsu sighed.

"I know you're hurt. But you'll just have to put that aside." Melek didn't look up. "You found out the truth about your life. So what?" Melek still didn't look up. Jitsugetsu sighed and shook her head slightly. "Now is not the time to despair. If you despair now you won't be able to get stronger or learn anything. Most importantly…" Jitsugetsu's voice was only a little softer and her eyes remained cold as she half lidded her eyes. "You won't be able to save anyone."

Melek's eyes shot up now. They almost had a look of terror in them as she furrowed her eyebrows. Sweat dripped off of her chin. Jitsugetsu looked down at Melek. "That's right. You won't be able to save Rukia. Or Renji, not Hitsugaya either." Melek's frown deepened. "You won't even be able to help Ichigo." Melek let out a silent gasp, and her heart began to pound. "You'll just be in despair unable to do a thing." Jitsugetsu carried on. Melek looked to the ground again, keeping her frown. Jitsugetsu remained silent now.

Melek stared at the wet ground, and thunder boomed throughout the sky. Thoughts ran through her head. Thoughts of hate towards Jitsugetsu and then thoughts of understanding. Melek kept her eyes lowered. There were more thoughts though. Thoughts of Ichigo, and Rukia and all of her other friends. She thought of the how the Soul Society would need her help along with anyone else who hadn't lost their sanity. The brunette sighed quietly, though it was barely audible, and Jitsugetsu couldn't hear her. Melek wondered about many things and couldn't understand what was happening. She wanted a new direction.

Lightning flashed once again, showing Melek's distressed face. Jitsugetsu waited. She would wait for a response before jumping in. She figured this would have happened, but she hadn't expected there to be so much hate emitting from Melek's heart. It stung her own heart and she felt like a one thousand needles piercing her throat. Jitsugetsu never said a word about it. She would never say a word about it again if it meant Melek earning trust towards her again.

After a few minutes Melek gripped her sword tightly again. She looked up. "Alright…Let's do this." That was all she had to say before Jitsugetsu used her flash step and was right in front of her face. Melek's eyes widened for a moment but she quickly ducked out of the way from Jitsugetsu's attack. Jitsugetsu was back to being merciless it seemed. Melek stood up and dodged another on coming attack. Melek once again began trying to concentrate reiatsu while fighting properly. It was a rather difficult task.

Melek jumped away from Jitsugetsu but tried to remain close. She fired a normal Suta Senko before she charged towards Jitsugetsu. Jitsugetsu had destroyed the attack with her own move, and she blocked Melek's next attack. Melek pushed against Jitsugetsu's blade with a more concentrated look in her face. The anger was drained away and it now looked as if Melek was concentrating properly. She looked to be in the present, rather than thinking about what it was that Jitsugetsu had told her. She had tried to keep those thoughts out of her mind as she attacked Jitsugetsu.

She couldn't allow herself to get into despair. She began to remember things that Urahara had told her also when fighting someone. Melek narrowed her eyes and creased her eyebrows. She got cut in her side but quickly, Melek slashed her Zanpakuto down, cutting Jitsugetsu's arm. Melek thrust her Zanpakuto forward in an attempt to cut Jitsugetsu's face but failed and fell forward. Jitsugetsu slammed her foot into Melek's stomach and the brunette was sent flying backwards a little bit. Melek spat out some blood and she regained her balance.

_When you defend yourself…Don't get cut. _Melek quickly jumped out of the way as Jitsugetsu swung her Zanpakuto towards her when she was in reach. Jitsugetsu turned around while swinging her blade again. Melek quickly blocked the attack with the back of her wrist pushing on the back of her large sword. Melek jumped out of the way once again as Jitsugetsu fired a Suta Senko. Melek watched as Jitsugetsu sent another one. The pale girl quickly fired her own attack and when the attacks hit each other, an explosion erupted. Smoke was in the area making it hard to see where the attacks had exploded.

The smoke quickly began to clear away. Melek and Jitsugetsu stared each other down. _When you save someone…_Melek ran towards Jitsugetsu. She swung her blade and cut the older woman's side again. Jitsugetsu quickly reacted by slamming her sword into Melek's shoulder. Melek grunted and blood escaped her mouth. Melek grabbed Jitsugetsu's blade glaring at it. She whipped it out of her shoulder and she jumped back a few paces. Images of Rukia and Renji, Ichigo and Toshiro appeared in her mind. _Don't let them die. _Melek began to feel her heart grow lighter as she remembered Urahara's words.

Thunder boomed in the sky. Melek gripped her sword's hilt tighter. Her eyes looked determined now and Jitsugetsu immediately noticed that. Little did Melek even realize, she had been concentrating her reiatsu as she began to recall her training with Urahara. Melek twitched a little bit. A smirk came onto her face, showing her white teeth. A chuckle was heard deep in her throat as well. There was an overwhelming feeling that entered her body. She had felt this before, but she couldn't remember exactly when. Melek began raising her reiatsu, all the while concentrating.

_When you attack…_Melek laughed now as she ran towards Jitsugetsu. Jitsugetsu got herself ready as her master ran towards her still. Blades clashed again and sparks flew off of the metal. Jitsugetsu noticed the new found confidence and determination that Melek had. It made her heart feel a little better, as she felt that the hate Melek had been perhaps beginning to die down. Jitsugetsu couldn't have known for sure. Melek pushed Jitsugetsu away from her and she made another swing towards the older woman. However Jitsugetsu quickly blocked the attack.

Jitsugetsu pushed Melek's blade aside and then she swiped her Zanpakuto forward. Melek sidestepped to try to get out of the way, however the attack still ended up cutting her cheek a little. Melek's face felt a little warm now as the red liquid inside of her seeped down her cheek and dripped off of her chin. Melek backed up a little bit and she spat out some blood that had been caught up in her mouth. Jitsugetsu ran towards Melek swinging her Zanpakuto once again. Melek scowled as she jumped up and swung her Zanpakuto downward. Jitsugetsu felt metal pierce through her shoulder. She looked up as Melek pulled her blade out of Jitsugetsu.

Melek and Jitsugetsu jumped back from each other again. Green eyes met Melek's dark brown eyes. Determination met a cold gaze. It was almost as if there was an understanding now. Melek couldn't be sure and neither could Jitsugetsu. Perhaps it was for neither of them to decide. The battle of wills continued forward as they ran towards each other. This time, instead of clashing swords together, they ran at one another's sides, and they both managed to cut one another on either side. Blood sprayed from them.

Melek coughed up a little bit of blood again while Jitsugetsu had a small stream of blood coming from her own mouth. Melek and Jitsugetsu turned around and face each other once more. Jitsugetsu hadn't been looking Melek in the eyes however. She was looking at the smaller girls arms. She noticed that they almost looked strained. Then Jitsugetsu looked at Melek's hands and saw how pale white they were compared to the rest of her body. The older woman fully turned now and stared at Melek's dark brown eyes once again.

_When you attack, you kill! _Melek smirked widely now. There was confidence and nothing but determination in her face. Melek and Jitsugetsu ran at each other. Melek jumped up and cut through her shoulder, while Jitsugetsu raised her own blade and managed to cut Melek's stomach while the younger girl made her attack. Blood sprayed from their new wounds once again. Melek turned around quickly as lightning flashed through the sky again. Jitsugetsu turned to face Melek.

Melek laughed a little in her throat. She began to swing her large sword towards Jitsugetsu, her smirk remaining on her face. "Getsug-"

Blood and skin suddenly came from her hands. Melek's dark brown eyes widened as she stared downwards. Her hands had exploded.

* * *

**TRANSLATIONS:**

**Shinigami= Soul Reaper**

**Reiatsu= Spiritual Pressure**


End file.
